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Mechanic arrested for making fake HSRP number plates in Chandigarh
Accused had procured special machinery from Delhi to punch and affix the fake HSRP number plates and special tape for the letters, said police
Chandigarh Police have arrested a mechanic who worked at the Sector 38 West Motor Market for making fake high security registration plates (HSRP).
Inspector Narinder Patial, in-charge of the UT Police’s district crime cell (DCC), said the suspect, identified as Tushar Aggarwal, 36, of Sector 41-A, was arrested red-handed on the basis of a tip-off with around 40 fake number plates.
He had procured special machinery from Delhi to punch and affix the fake plates and special tape for the letters and special blocks.
Police said that he had been working with number plates since 2002 and started making fake numbr plates almost a year ago for people who didn’t want to stand in lines at the sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) and Registering and Licensing Authority (RLA) offices. It is suspected he had made hundreds of them.
Once prepared, the fake number plates looked identical to genuine ones. However, police said that the hologram sticker pasted on these plates were of poor quality and peeled off when they got wet in rain. “It is illegal to get number plates fixed from anywhere apart from the office of the SDM concerned. A case will be registered against anyone found using counterfeit plates,” Patial added.
Aggarwal had been making numberplates for people in other states including Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh as well. While it takes about ₹365 to get the HSRP number plates through official channels, he was charging ₹1,200 for city residents and over ₹2,000 from belong to other states.
A case under Sections 420 (cheating), 467(forgery of valuable security, will, etc), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating) and 471 (using as genuine a forged document or electronic record) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) has been registered at the Maloya police station. The accused was produced before court on Thursday and sent to two-day police remand.
Ever since May 2, 1,926 challans have been issued to those driving without HSRP number plates. Senior superintendent of police (SSP, traffic) Manisha Choudhary, said, “We will get in touch with the RLA to find out how a genuine number plates can be differentiated from fake ones.”
Applications for affixing HSRP and colour-coded stickers can be submitted at the RLA counter at SDM offices as per residential address for old vehicles and at dealer point for new vehicles. Citizens can also avail of this service online on www.testsecurityplates.com..
