The Andhra Pradesh police have arrested a man for posing as an IPS officer during Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan’s recent visit to the Parvathipuram Manyam district on December 20. According to the police, 41-year-old Balivada Surya Prakash had been pretending to be a newly recruited IPS officer for the past few months to wield influence in his native village to settle a property dispute.
Pawan Kalyan visited Bagujola village of Makkuva mandal on December 20. During the visit, he went up a hill towards Chilakala Mandangi, where he interacted with the tribal residents of the village. He also inaugurated the construction of new roads in the district with a predominantly tribal population, including a road from Bagujola to Sirivara.
Surya Prakash, a native of Ambativalasa village of Vizianagaram district, wore a police uniform and showed up at the location where Pawan Kalyan was visiting. Claiming to be an IPS officer, he took photographs with the police personnel deployed for the visit and posted them as his WhatsApp status. He has been booked under Sections 204 (falsely impersonating a public servant), 205 (wearing garb/carrying token used by a public servant), 318 (cheating), 319 (cheating by personation), and other sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) Dilip Kiran told the media that in January 2024, Surya Prakash told his friends and relatives that he had been recruited as an IPS officer and went to Hyderabad, claiming he would undergo training there. He lived in a hostel in Hyderabad, got police uniforms stitched, and would often post pictures of himself wearing them, the ASP said. In November, he returned to his hometown and continued to visit acquaintances in nearby Bobbili and Salur towns in the fake uniform, he added.
According to the police, Surya Prakash had served as a sepoy in the 26th Battalion of the Punjab Regiment from 2003 to 2005. He left the forces without permission as a “deserter” and returned to Andhra Pradesh, where he completed his B Tech from Bobbili and graduated with an MBA in Karnataka.
In 2020, after his father’s demise, Surya Prakash reportedly found land purchase agreements for nine acres in Dattirajeru mandal dating back to 2005. Police said it was likely that he was pretending to be an IPS officer and had turned up in his fake uniform during Pawan Kalyan’s visit and put up photographs pretending to have been part of the police escort to claim the nine acres of land that is under dispute.
According to The New Indian Express, residents and acquaintances who had grown suspicious of his claims complained to the police after seeing his photos from Pawan Kalyan’s visit.
“Surya Prakash took photographs from afar and walked back. He didn’t go close to the VIP (Deputy CM Pawan Kalyan),” ASP Dilip said, amid reports suggesting that Pawan Kalyan’s security had been compromised.
Police said they seized two false identity cards, two police uniforms, a jungle camouflage uniform, and false name plates from Surya Prakash.