MUMBAI, July 1 -- In a scene straight out of a con thriller, the Mumbai Crime Branch has arrested a 32-year-old man from Bihar who had been living a bureaucrat's fantasy life-right inside a plush government guest house in Bandra. The catch? He wasn't an IAS officer at all. The accused, Chandramohan Prasad Rambali Singh, a resident of Vaishali district in Bihar, had allegedly been impersonating an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer and enjoying the perks that come with the uniform-without ever cracking the UPSC exam. According to police officials, Singh had been staying for two days at the Customs department's government guest house in Bandra East, all thanks to a contact in the civil services who helped book him in. His deception, however, unravelled when his car-with a Bharat Sarkar board stuck to the front-caught the attention of patrolling officers in Malad. What followed was a swift and dramatic bust. On June 28, around 1pm, constable Laxman Bagave and inspector Balasaheb Raut of Dahisar unit 12 were on routine patrol when they received a tip-off about a man driving around in a white Swift Dzire, masquerading as a senior government officer. Acting on the lead, they intercepted the vehicle near Silver Oak Hotel in Malad's industrial estate. Seated calmly in the backseat was Singh, who confidently flashed an ID card identifying him as an "Assistant Director (Security)" with the Ministry of Home Affairs, valid until 2028. But something didn't sit right with the officers. "We suspected the ID was fake. It had too many inconsistencies," said a senior official. Singh was taken to the Dahisar Crime Branch office for questioning. During the interrogation, Singh cracked. He admitted that he had moved to Delhi in 2017 to prepare for the Civil Services Examination. Some of his friends had gone on to become IAS and IRS officers in 2022, but he couldn't clear the exam. The pressure back home in Bihar mounted-relatives kept asking about his 'results'. That's when he decided to fake it. "He told people in his village that he too had become an IAS officer, just to save face," the officer said. But the lie didn't stop at home. Coming to Mumbai for a three-day getaway, Singh used a friend's help-an actual government employee-to secure accommodation at the prestigious Customs guest house. He booked a local driver, 24-year-old Fardin Saifi, who was told to chauffeur a visiting government officer across the city. Saifi later revealed that Singh even managed to get away with showing his fake IAS ID to traffic police in Dadar the day before his arrest. When police searched Singh's belongings, they recovered not just the dubious identity card, but also 16 visiting cards, two mobile phones, an Aadhaar card, PAN card, driving licence, and some cash. Singh claimed the ID was "self-designed" and had convinced multiple people of his fictitious stature. The police are now investigating how deep the impersonation went and whether anyone else helped Singh. The car owner and the person who booked it are also under the scanner. Singh was booked under sections 204 (personating a public servant), 336(2) (forgery) and 336(3) (making a false document), and 340 (using a forged document as genuine) of the BNS and was remanded in police custody till July 3. As one officer put it, "So far, he hasn't cheated anyone but pretending to be an IAS officer with a fake ID is no small fraud either."...