Mangaluru : A person who impersonated his accused elder sibling in a court case is now cooling his heels behind bars. The incident took place at JMFC court in Sullia on Friday.
The arrested person is named Shareef, who is the brother of accused Siddique.
According to police, Siddique and two others – Nawaz and Haris were booked for assault under Indian Penal Code 324, which took place in June, 2017. The court trial was taking place on the same after the incident.
On Friday, trio appeared before the court around 11 am. However, instead of Siddique, his brother Shareef appeared along with two others. Police said that judge smelt something fishy when he saw there was no match in the signs of Siddique and expressed doubt that he was not the same person. In reply, Shareef argued that he was Siddique and even two other accused seconded his claim. However, the judge, who was not convinced with their answer demanded for valid identity proof by 3pm.
Around noon, when his parents brought identity proof, it became clear that Shareef had impersonated his brother. Judge asked police to arrest him and book for impersonation and misleading court. Later, he was arrested and sent to judicial custody.
Sources claimed that accused Siddique had flown overseas a few months ago and to avoid any legal hurdles, his brother appeared before court on his behalf.
A case has been registered at Sullia police station and further investigation is on.