The two were arrested on a complaint from the office of the Jharkhand revenue and land registration minister
The Delhi police crime branch has arrested one Sanjay Kumar Tiwari, and his associate Gaurav Sharma, for allegedly duping a number of politicians and top bureaucrats by taking 'political donations' from them in return for favours.
The two were arrested on a complaint from the office of the Jharkhand revenue and land registration minister. The personal secretary to the minister, Amar Kumar Bauri, reported that the minister's office received regular calls from an unknown person who introduced himself as BJP national general secretary Ram Madhav, dmeanding election funds. The complaint was made on Tuesday.
Upon verification with the minister's office, the gang of impostors who had been duping many parliamentarians and top bureaucrats, using the same modus operandi, was exposed.
According to the police, after frequent calls, Tiwari sent one person to the Jharkhand Bhawan, and he met the minister and demanded party funds. "When Ram Madhav's office confirmed that no such communication was made, it was clear that someone was trying to dupe the minister's office. Several rackets operating on similar modus operandi were put under technical surveillance and the crime branch zeroed in on Tiwari," said Ravindra Yadav, Joint Commissioner of Police, Crime.
On Wednesday, it came to the crime branch's knowledge that Tiwari would be coming near ITO to meet his accomplices. Accordingly, a trap was laid and around 12.15 pm, Tiwari and one of his associates, Gaurav Sharma, were apprehended.
Police said that the accused had earlier duped a former Congress MLA from Punjab by posing as a PA to Sonia Gandhi, promising him a ticket for the Punjab Assembly elections.
Tiwari also used to identify himself a former personal assistant to a former Arunachal MP. He has worked in All India Radio and in the print as well as in the electronic media, where he had carried out sting operations and tryied to extort money, but was booked. He had also worked as an associate director for a film in Mumbai.
"Interrogation revealed that Tiwari was the mastermind behind the racket. He used to do intensive research on his targets, mostly politicians or senior government officials. He would then pose as one of the senior leaders of a political party and lure them with election tickets, or a major role in political parties in exchange of hefty amounts. The victims believed him and paid him huge amount," Yadav said.
Police said that Tiwari never collected money in person and got it collected by employees hired by Sharma. The hired staff would then contact the victims, collect money and make them speak to either Tiwari or Sharma as a guarantee.
Tiwari told the cops that he had recently attempted to extort money from Madan Mohan Mittal, a minister from Punjab; Vikas Munda, Jharkhand MLA; T Jeboha, Arunachal Pradesh MLA; a senior PWD engineer in Meghalaya, and a few Congress and BSP leaders. "The matter is being probed further," Yadav said.
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