Armed with IPS identity from Dulquer film, how a 22-year-old fooled cops across Kerala

Kottayam: He borrowed the name of an IPS trainee character from a Dulquer Salmaan film, passed himself off as a police officer, intervened in cases and even intimidated police personnel. The charade finally unravelled when 22-year-old Adithyan P Kishore was arrested in a POCSO case involving the alleged sexual assault of a minor girl.

Adithyan, a resident of Pathukalathil House in Vadavathoor, was arrested by the Kottayam West police in connection with the sexual assault of a 17-year-old girl from Pathanamthitta. Police said he had introduced himself to her as an IPS trainee and that she later became pregnant.

Adithyan had introduced himself as ‘Adithyan P K IPS’, claiming to be a 2023-batch Bihar cadre officer, and intervened in various cases at police stations across Idukki, Kottayam and Ernakulam districts. Police later found that the name he had assumed was that of the IPS trainee character played by actor Dulquer Salmaan in the Malayalam film Vikramadithyan.

The latest incident that brought him under the police radar involved a Kottayam Collectorate employee who alleged that she had been cheated of nearly ₹10 lakh after being promised a job in Israel. Adithyan, who met the woman while working as an online taxi driver, offered to intervene after learning about her dispute with the agency.

He accompanied the woman and her husband to the agency owners’ residence at Mulavukad in Ernakulam and allegedly threatened them, prompting them to return ₹2 lakh to her. He then took away their vehicle and drove it to Kottayam, telling them that it would be returned when the remaining amount was paid. In the meantime, Adithyan received ₹20,000 through Google Pay as a reward for his intervention.

The agency owners later approached the Varappuzha police, but when the SHO called Adithyan, he allegedly tried to intimidate the officer, asking, “Don’t you know how to speak to IPS officers?”

Meanwhile, the Collectorate employee made inquiries about him at the Kottayam DySP’s office. When police contacted the Google Pay number to which the ₹20,000 had been transferred, a 17-year-old girl from Pathanamthitta answered the call.

She told police that her relationship with Adithyan had begun after he introduced himself as an IPS trainee and that he stopped answering her calls after allegedly sexually assaulting her. The information led police to register the POCSO case and arrest him.

Police said Adithyan is also an accused in a case at Keezhvaipur, Pathanamthitta, for allegedly taking ₹1 lakh after promising to install a solar system. Another case was registered against him for allegedly creating a scare at a bar hotel in Kaithepalom by brandishing an air gun.

An ‘IPS trainee’ who even called the shots with cops
Adithyan’s impersonation apparently went beyond fooling unsuspecting people into believing he was an IPS officer. He even stepped into police cases. A few months ago, police in Upputhara, Idukki, received information about a family dispute and reached the house, only to find an ‘IPS officer’ already waiting in the courtyard.

Introducing himself as ‘Adithyan P K IPS’, he told the police team that there was no problem and that he had already settled the dispute. The officers then left.

The incident, however, prompted the Idukki police to make inquiries in Kottayam about the purported IPS officer. The local police checked the rank lists but could not find any officer by that name. The only Adithyan they could trace was the fictional IPS trainee character in the film Vikramadithyan. Police later found that his intervention in the Upputhara family dispute had been made at the request of the minor girl who has now lodged the complaint against him.

In another instance, Adithyan called the Manarcadu police station, introducing himself as a CRPF inspector and asked officers not to intervene in a road accident within the station limits.

Police said his manner of dressing and speaking helped him pass himself off as an IPS officer. He also peppered his conversations with police and legal terminology, apparently helping him avoid suspicion even among police personnel.

Preliminary investigation revealed that Adithyan is educated only up to an ITI course in electronics. He had met the minor girl through Instagram and had posted photographs of himself standing in front of police vehicles on the platform. Police are now investigating whether he had similarly duped or exploited others.

On the instructions of District Police Chief KM Sabu Mathew, a special investigation team was formed under Kottayam DySP K G Aneesh, with Kottayam West Circle Inspector Anoop Jose supervising the probe. Sub Inspector V S Girish Kumar, Senior Civil Police Officers T K Rupesh and Arun Kumar, and Civil Police Officer Manoj were part of the team that arrested Adithyan.