2 Conmen Pose As BJP Workers, Dupe Politicians, Officials Of 1 Crore: Cops

Two men were arrested for allegedly duping several people, including politicians, contractors and government officers, of around Rs 1 crore by posing as high-ranking BJP workers, police said on Tuesday.

An officer bearer of the ruling BJP had lodged a police complaint on May 9, they said.

According to the complaint, some people had cheated party leaders, workers and government officers in different states by identifying themselves as BJP workers from the party headquarters in Delhi, a senior police officer said.

A case was registered and during the investigation, one of the phone numbers of the accused was traced to one Praveen Kumar but no specific address was found, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central) Sanjay Kumar Sain said.

A police officer posing as a decoy contractor called the number and fixed an appointment with Kumar, following which he was arrested from Mayur Vihar on May 11, Mr Sain added.

Parveen Kumar, 19, a resident of Mayur Vihar Phase 3, revealed that he targeted various politicians from northeastern states and asked for party funds and promised them referrals for higher positions in the BJP central office, the DCP said.

In lieu of this, he asked for services such as hotel bookings, flight tickets and money for other expenses, eventually cheating them of lakhs of rupees, the DCP said.

Another phone number submitted by the complainant was traced to Piyush Kumar Srivastava, 34, a resident of Uttar Pradesh's Lucknow, who was arrested on May 13, he added.

Mr Srivastava posed as the Officer on Special Duty (OSD) to the BJP national president and had registered an NGO with the name 'Bhartiya Inclusive Development Foundation', the DCP said.

He availed the benefits of corporate social responsibility (CSR) by sending copies of his fake visiting card on WhatsApp to top officials of government companies such as the Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL), Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL), Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) and Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC).

Mr Srivastava had managed to convince a GAIL official to give Rs 45 lakh from the company fund to his NGO, the police said.

Three mobile phones, four sim cards and one laptop were seized from the accused, police said.

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