A beacon-fitted car with a sticker that read “Government of West Bengal” has been impounded because it was allegedly used in the theft of three generator parts from a house in Salt Lake’s EE Block on Sunday.
The beacon and the purported government sticker helped police identify the car after analysing footage from more than 35 CCTV cameras across Salt Lake.
The vehicle was traced to a location at Basanti Devi colony in Ultadanga on Sunday.
The police said they were verifying whether the vehicle had been requisitioned by any state government department or whether the driver had installed the beacon and the board thinking that those would help him escape police vigil.
The police arrested the vehicle’s driver, Tapan Roy, at his Ultadanga home. Roy’s alleged associate Bimal Byapari was rounded up from Duttapukur later on Sunday.
The stolen generator parts have yet to be recovered, the police said. “A theft was reported. By analysing CCTV camera footage we have been able to identify the car and arrest its driver. The beacon and the government sticker may have been used as a ploy to avoid being caught,” said an officer of the Bidhannagar commissionerate.
A crime using a beacon-fitted vehicle underscores the rampant misuse of these lights. Many Kolkatans have complained about how these lights are used to jump traffic lights or park in no-parking bays.
A notification issued by the state transport department in 2021, which was in line with a 2017 central government notification, states the use of “lights on top” is allowed for 14 categories of government officials in Bengal.
They include all ministers-in-charge/ministers of state, chief secretary, additional chief secretary/principal secretary/secretary in charge of the departments of the state government, all divisional commissioners in their respective jurisdictions, all director-generals of police/additional director-generals of police, director-general of fire services, commissioner of state excise and commissioner of the commercial taxes, inspector generals of police/deputy inspector generals of zones/ranges within their respective jurisdictions, all district magistrates in their respective jurisdictions, all municipal commissioners in their respective jurisdictions, all commissioners/additional commissioners/joint commissioners/deputy commissioners of police in their respective jurisdictions, all superintendents of police of the districts in their respective jurisdictions, all sub-divisional officers/sub-divisional police officers of the sub-divisions in their respective jurisdictions and all police patrol cars, escort vehicles and fire tenders.
The Centre’s list covers its officials and defence personnel.
In Kolkata, several imposters have been caught posing as an IAS officer, an IPS officer or a vigilance officer and moving around in beacon-fitted vehicles.
Debanjan Deb, who police said had organised a fake Covid-vaccination camp posing as an IAS officer in 2021, was allegedly found in possession of a beacon-fitted car.
Also in 2021, a Belghoria resident named Rajarshi Bhattacharya was arrested from Park Street while allegedly riding a beacon-fitted vehicle. He was allegedly pretending to be an IPS officer.