A 25-year-old woman was arrested on Tuesday in Nalgonda District for allegedly engaging in fraudulent activities by “impersonating” a sub-inspector of the Railway Protection Force (RPF), Telangana State Railway Police said.

The woman, identified as Jadala Malavika, exploited her fraudulent status to gain unwarranted recognition, including participating in events such as International Women’s Day celebration in Nalgonda, where she purportedly represented herself as a sub-inspector and was felicitated by the organisers, they said.

Using her fake position, the woman established connections with individuals of prominence, such as a Telugu film actor, Additional Director General of Police (Railways & Road Safety-Telangana State) Mahesh M Bhagwat said in a release. Another sub-inspector of the RPF lodged a complaint with RPS Nalgonda, stating that the woman has been observed wearing an RPF sub-inspector uniform and accoutrements while frequently travelling on various trains between the Nalgonda and Secunderabad section.

She presented herself to passengers as a bona fide sub-inspector of the RPF, showing them a counterfeit identity card to support her false claims, the release said. She has also deceived her relatives and villagers by falsely asserting that she has been employed as a sub-inspector in the Railway Protection Force, stationed at Secunderabad for the past year, it said.

The complainant sought appropriate measures to apprehend the woman for pretending to be an official of the RPF, and to prevent any further misuse of authority or potential harm to unsuspecting members of the public.

Basing on the complaint, a case has been registered under sections 170 (Personating a public servant), 419 (punishment for cheating by personation) and 420 (cheating) of IPC, and the accused was arrested at Nalgonda Railway Station. She voluntarily confessed to have committed these offences in order to please her parents and relatives, the release said.

A RPF SI uniform with RPF logo, stars, RPF shoulder steel badges, name plate, brown shoes, brown colour RPF belt, besides a fake laminated ID card of RPF and an extra name plate were seized from the accused.