Kurukshetra | A Congress leader was allegedly cheated of Rs 10 lakh by a man through a phony fundraiser who posed as the personal secretary to Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi.
According to an FIR registered here, Sanjiv, an executive member of Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee, received a WhatsApp call on January 24 from a person identifying himself as Kanishk Singh, claiming to be Rahul Gandhi's secretary.
The caller told him that a training programme for the Uttarakhand Congress unit was scheduled to be held in Chandigarh and sought financial assistance for the event.
According to the police, the person told the Bhukri native that some members of the party high command would attend the programme, and that he would be entrusted with arranging hotel accommodation and other logistical needs.
Sanjiv was also promised an audience with the senior party leaders, the police said.
Believing the request to be genuine, Sanjiv and another party leader, Pawan Sharma, each arranged Rs 5 lakh.
Later that night, at around 11 pm, "Kanishk" directed them to a hotel in Chandigarh, where in the parking lot they met a man who identified himself as Deepak.
Sanjiv, after speaking to the caller on the phone, handed the money to Deepak, but not before he clicked a photo of him.
The following day, the caller allegedly demanded another Rs 5 lakh, and when Sanjiv refused to pay, he stopped answering his calls.
Subsequent inquiries with party officials revealed that no such training programme had been scheduled.
The Congress member told police that he initially refrained from reporting the matter due to embarrassment. However, after coming across reports of similar frauds on WhatsApp and learning about action taken by Uttarakhand Police in comparable cases, he decided to approach the police.
Superintendent of Police Chander Mohan said he asked the Thanesar City Police to register a case of cheating and to begin an investigation.
The police are examining the mobile numbers used in the fraud and other digital evidence.