A motorcyclist stopped by police for travelling without a helmet near Tollygunge tried to pass himself off as a cop to escape penalty but got caught once he produced a fake identity card, officers said.

Rajib Chakraborty, the accused, was arrested on Tuesday afternoon on charges of impersonating a cop and possessing a forged identity card.

“The motorcyclist was travelling with a pillion rider and neither was wearing a helmet. A sergeant of Regent Park traffic guard signalled him to stop and was about to prosecute him for driving a two-wheeler without helmet when he said he was an assistant sub-inspector of the Calcutta police,” said an officer of Regent Park police station.

The sergeant got suspicious and asked for his identity card. Chakraborty, a resident of Baranagar, showed an identity card which allegedly turned out to be fake.

“The identity card bore the purported signature of ‘DG South’ of the Calcutta police.

There is no post called ‘DG South’ in Calcutta police,” the officer said.

Chakraborty was taken to Regent Park police station and later arrested on charges of cheating, impersonation, forgery and fraud.

Another officer said Chakraborty would have been prosecuted for a “simple traffic violation” and released had he not produced the forged ID card.