A 20-year-old Andheri resident who had fixed a fake MLA sticker on the windshield of his car to gain smooth passage at police checkpoints amid the lockdown has been arrested.
Alert police personnel stopped Sabet Aslam Shah’s vehicle and were neither impressed nor amused with the youth’s idea to circumvent the lockdown rules.
According to the Andheri police, Sabet Aslam Shah’s car was intercepted near Sai Prasad Hotel on Western Express Highway during a routine nakabandi at 5.55 p.m. on Thursday. Officers said the sticker aroused suspicion as Mr. Shah was too young to be driving an official vehicle. When he was questioned, he gave excuses and said he had fixed the sticker “by mistake”.
Senior police inspector Vijay Belge said, “He said he was trying to get it removed, but couldn’t find a professional to do it owing to the lockdown. He was even willing to take the sticker off in front of the personnel. After sustained questioning, he confessed that he had intentionally fixed the sticker to evade the lockdown.”
The police then arrested Mr. Shah and charged him for improper use of an official sticker, forgery, impersonating a public servant and committing a negligent act likely to spread an infectious disease under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code, the Disaster Management Act, the Epidemic Diseases Act, and the State Emblem of India Act.
Released on bail
Mr. Shah is a second-year commerce student and lives with his family in MIDC area in Andheri (East). He was later released on bail.
