Abhay Meena's car with fake stars and govt. stickers

JAIPUR: The 20-year-old fake Indian Police Service ( IPS ) officer arrested by the Special Operations Group (SOG) was a motivational speaker and a social media star of sorts, who inspired youths to take up challenges in life. A class-XII fail, Abhay Meena gave inspirational talks about how he studied for several long hours to crack IIT and UPSC exams in first attempt.Meena, who awarded medals and certificates to several real police officers, continued with his chicanery , until a person got suspicious when the accused showed his police card, where he had misspelled crime branch as “branche,” and capital as “capitol”.When the SOG arrested him from an apartment in Jagatpura area on Friday evening, Meena tried to browbeat cops by showing his influence, but in vain. “He was a social media sensation. People were inspired by the story that somebody could become an IPS officer at such an early age,” said additional SP (ASP) Karan Sharma.The accused drove around the city in a car with a three-star police plate affixed on the bumper. “In police hierarchy, a three-star cop is either a DG or additional DG (ADG) rank official. Therefore, such honour is reserved only for senior officials, not for a 20-year-old new entrant into the service,” said an official on condition of anonymity, adding that it’s surprising that traffic cops never checked his car.The sources informed TOI, that the accused was a regular chief guest at several fashion shows, gala parties, and pep talk events where he reportedly shared tips about cracking the two most prestigious exams — IIT entrance and civil services tests. At many of these award shows, he met real police officials and “applauded” their work. Ironically, some of these real cops even saluted him.“The accused with his live-in partner stayed at expensive hotels and dined at fine restaurants. He rarely paid and always showed off his clout,” said the official, adding that the accused extorted money from people. He was handed over to Pratap Nagar police station where he admitted to cheating people by posing as Delhi cadre IPS officer, posted as an ACP in the national capital. “The accused said that he used to take money from people on pretext of helping them in their legal cases. Some chargesheets have been recovered from his house,” added SHO Sanjay Sharma.