NEW DELHI: Delhi Police registered a case of impersonation after a woman, probably employed as a domestic help, appeared before the transport department, seeking to retain the VIP registration number of an old vehicle for a new one.
The case was registered at IP Estate police station under sections 419 (cheating by impersonation), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating), 471 (forged document or electronic record) and 34 (common intention) of the IPC based on a complaint by a transport department official.
As per the complaint, the transport department received an application from one Suman Bhandari, owner of Vehicle No DIL 0100 for the retention of the registration mark on new vehicles. The said woman was the registered owner of vehicle in question for the last 39 years and had also produced the said vehicle in July 2023.
The woman told the transport department that she had misplaced the registration certificate of the car for which she also provided an NCR (non-cognizable report) for the lost document along with her PAN.
The complainant officer said at the time of inspection of the vehicle, its chassis number seemed unauthentic. To ascertain the authenticity of the chassis number embossed on the vehicle’s frame, the woman told to get the vehicle certified by the vehicle manufacturer so that the matter of retaining the registration number on a new vehicle could be considered.
After this, the woman filed an appeal before the Special Commissioner, Transport in December 2023. The date for hearing was fixed to April 9, 2024 at the DTC headquarter.
“During the hearing, the woman was asked to state her name and purpose. Ms Suman Bhandari (name changed) has informed that someone told her to attend the appeal under the identity of Ms Suman Bhandari and her actual name is Vimla,” the FIR, accessed by this newspaper, read.
The police was informed and after preliminary inquiry, a case was registered. Probing the matter, cops believe its more than a matter of mere impersonation, there may be some deeper conspiracy. The investigation so far has revealed that the woman Vimla worked as a domestic help in northeast Delhi and was asked to attend the hearing, posing as Suman Bhandari, on the instructions of her employer, Ashish.
Cops feel that the conspiracy was executed to acquire the ‘fancy’ car registration number. “The investigation is still going on and we have bound down both Ashish and Bimla,” a police officer told this newsaper.
Faceless names, nameless faces
The accused Ashish during questioning revealed that he had sent Vimla to appear in place of Suman Bhandari on instructions of his brother-in-law Aryan alias Kanishk, who lives in New Zealand. When police tried contacting Aryan, his phone was switched off. During the probe the police got the address of Suman Bhandari, the owner of the vintage car bearing registration number DIL 0100. “When we reached her address, we found that tenants were residing there. They don’t know anything about Suman Bhandari,” the officer said.