E-Paper
Three arrested for forging Covid-19 penalty receipts, pocketing fines
Three civil defence volunteers posted with the office of the sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) office of New Delhi have been arrested for forging Covid-19 penalty receipts issued to mask norm violators, and pocketing the fine amount, the Delhi Police said on Friday
Three civil defence volunteers posted with the office of the sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) office of New Delhi have been arrested for forging Covid-19 penalty receipts issued to mask norm violators, and pocketing the fine amount, the Delhi Police said on Friday.
The crime came to light on December 31, when one Prince (identified by his first name) and his friends were caught violating mask norms by the three suspects at Talkatora Stadium.
The three claimed they were working on behalf of the New Delhi SDM to prosecute violators.
“The two mask violators were fined ₹4,000 and asked to pay up. Since they did not have cash, they were provided a phone number to pay through PayTM,” said Eish Singhal, deputy commissioner of police (New Delhi).
The three civil defence volunteers slipped away from the spot after receiving the money.
But Pankaj said he suspected the veracity of the receipt, and approached the North Avenue police station.
The police registered a case of cheating and approached the SDM office for help with the phone number on which the money was received.
“We were informed that the number belonged to a civil defence volunteer named Sunny. We caught Sunny and at his instance his colleagues, Yashwant Rathi and Lucky,” Singhal said.
The police’s probe revealed that the trio had been misusing their position as volunteers.
“They had captured the photos of the original Covid-19 challan receipt and used it to obtain coloured printouts. They then went about visiting public places to target people without masks,” Singhal said.
