Deepakantan, arrested for trespassing into the Yelahanka Air Force Officers’ Mess on Wednesday, gained entry into a secured area by falsely claiming that his wife was being treated at a private hospital, an inquiry by Air Force officials has revealed.
A senior IAF official, who did not want to be named, said Deepakantan (23), a resident of Nagavarapalya in the city, told Air Force authorities he was a fighter pilot from the Ambala Air Force Station and sought a room in the Officers’ Mess as it would help him “commute to a private hospital on Bellary Road where his wife was admitted”.
He had faked his identity card, but the station security of the Yelahanka Air Force Station got suspicious when the “gentleman officer”, whose wife was supposedly sick, had a girlfriend in his room for all 10 days.
They checked his vehicle records and his documents and alerted the Air Force police, the official said.
The Air Force police investigated his antecedents and arrested him while he was shopping at a mall in Koramangala.
When The Hindu asked how a civilian could breach security so easily and why it took 10 days to discover the fraud, the officer did not offer a clear explanation.
Deepakantan was very knowledgeable about IAF insignias. His father, who passed away in 2003, worked as a waiter at the Aircraft and System Testing Establishment (ASTE) Officers’ Mess in Nagavarapalya, while Deepakantan himself worked for a few years as an orderly of Wing Commander Alok Joshi, who was on deputation to the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited.
Wg. Com. Joshi was staying in the HAL Senior Officers’ Enclave on Old Madras Road. The inquiry revealed that Deepakantan ventured into the Yelahanka Officers’ Mess only to impress his girlfriend. He had also taken money from several persons promising them jobs in the IAF, the officer said.
He has since been handed over to the Yelahanka police. The latter have booked Deepakantan for cheating by impersonation (Section 419 of the Indian Penal Code), criminal trespass (Section 447 of IPC) and house trespass (Section 448 of the IPC).
