HYDERABAD: A 30-year-old man, who happens to be a qualified doctor, found himself on the wrong side of the law after allegedly driving his BMW under the influence of alcohol in Jubilee Hills on Friday — and, in the process, revealing a rather well-doctored number plate operation.
The accused, identified as Goutham Reddy, is not currently practising medicine, though police say he appears to have been experimenting with a different kind of “practice” — altering identities, not ailments.
The case came to light in an unexpected manner when a constable pressed the wrong button in the BMW that was stopped for a drunk driving check, inadvertently exposing a remote-operated mechanism that could change the car’s number plates.
An inquiry revealed that the accused had purchased the car in Delhi around five years ago and had not changed its registration. Instead, he was allegedly using his uncle’s vehicle number while driving in the city.
Police said two similar BMW cars are involved. One vehicle is registered in the accused’s name with a Delhi registration, while another, bearing a TS registration, is registered in the name of his uncle.
Incidentally, the swapping mechanism is not an original idea. While browsing Instagram, the accused reportedly came across a video demonstrating number plate-changing technology. Inspired, he searched for the system, purchased it, and had it installed by a local technician in Madhapur about one-and-a-half years ago.
A recipe, or prescription in the doctor’s case, that served him well till that inadvertent push of a button by an unsuspecting cop. The technician who installed the system has been asked to appear before the police on Monday.
Despite the elaborate setup, police said they have not yet identified a specific motive behind the act. “We have not yet identified the particular reason for his doings,” officials said, adding that checks so far have not revealed prior violations linked to the number plates.
A case has been registered under charges of impersonation and cheating. For now, the accused’s experiment in mechanical disguise is under scrutiny of the police. For the characters involved, the fact remains that number plates can be doctored, consequences cannot.