He looked confident when he met with former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, posed for a picture with Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan, and met former Lieutenant Governor Kiran Bedi. His pride in the uniform and his confidence is evident in many other pictures. However, his overconfidence was perhaps his downfall. C Vijayan, a 40-year-old man from Chennai, turned out to be an imposter and not a police officer at all. Vijayan’s crime was exposed over a communication with Nishad Mon, Deputy Superintendent of Police Kattappana in Kerala’s Idukki district, whom Vijayan had visited under the guise of being an Assistant Commissioner with the Chennai Q branch, on August 1.
"There were several things which made me suspicious about his visit," the Kattappana DySP told TNM. Vijayan had visited the officer pretending that he was in Kattappana to investigate a case. "He said that he was in Idukki in connection with a probe, but that the case wasn't registered. Then I got suspicious as an officer won't begin a probe without registering a case. Another thing was he drove from Tamil Nadu himself, which an officer of an Assistant Commissioner rank won't do," the officer said. Vijayan wrapped up the visit in five minutes. However, by the time the DySP called the Tamil Nadu police to confirm Vijayan’s position, he had already crossed into Tamil Nadu through Kumily. Vijayan was caught and arrested by the Pattiveeranpatti police near Batlagundu in Dindigul district on the same day.
It appears that Vijayan has a flair for the dramatic, as he carried a fake weapon and drove around in a siren-installed car. The Kattappana DySP tried to verify Vijayan’s car license plate which turned out to be fake, which strengthened his suspicion. The vehicle even had a sign that said ‘Police’. Vijayan hails from Jeeva Nagar, Kolathur in Chennai, and reportedly, he resorted to impersonating a police officer to impress his wife and relatives. Vijayan also carried a fake ID card. By impersonating a high-ranking officer, he was able to breach the security of several politicians and other public figures.
The police found that he used to visit other states under the guise of a police officer as well. Manorama News reported that he had also visited the Guruvayur temple in Kerala using his fake ID card. Vijayan was remanded to judicial custody on Monday, August 2.