Man posing as Rahul Gandhi’s PA arrested for duping Dehradun Congress leader of Rs 25 lakh

DEHRADUN: Dehradun police have busted an inter-state gang that allegedly duped political party members across states using information sourced from the MyNeta.info portal, officials said on Tuesday.

SSP Pramendra Dobal said Gaurav Kumar, a 40-year-old resident of Amritsar, was arrested on Sunday for allegedly cheating a Dehradun-based Congress functionary, Bhavna Pandey, of Rs 25 lakh on the pretext of securing her a senior party position.

“Pandey alleged that the accused called her and falsely identified himself as the personal assistant to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. He promised her a senior position in the party in exchange for Rs 25 lakh. To convince her, he also made her listen to the voices of senior party leaders, including Harish Rawat and Yashpal Arya, over the call while pretending to be in a meeting with them at a city-based hotel,” Dobal said.

He added that Pandey believed him and agreed to pay the amount, which he collected from her residence on Saturday.

“After taking the money, he stopped responding to her calls and messages. She then realised she had been duped and lodged a police complaint. During the probe, police examined CCTV footage in the area and nabbed Kumar. During interrogation, it also emerged that he had committed similar crimes against politicians in other states. He was assisted by three associates who are yet to be arrested,” Dobal said.

The SSP further said Kumar told police he used to search for close aides of senior political leaders online and gather details of party members across states from publicly available websites.

“He and his associates had earlier duped two politicians in Jaipur in 2017 of Rs 2 crore on the pretext of offering election tickets. Similarly, they cheated a politician in Patna of Rs 3 lakh on the promise of a senior party position. Efforts are on to arrest the remaining accused,” Dobal added.