A senior Congress leader from Haryana has allegedly been cheated of ₹10 lakh after fraudsters made a fake WhatsApp call using the name of Kanishk Singh, the personal secretary of Lok Sabha Opposition Leader Rahul Gandhi. Police have registered an FIR and started an investigation into the matter.
According to police officials, Sanjeev, an executive member of the Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee, received an unknown WhatsApp call on January 24. The caller introduced himself as Kanishk Singh, Rahul Gandhi’s personal secretary, and claimed that a training programme for the Uttarakhand Congress unit was going to be organised in Chandigarh.
The fraudster told Sanjeev that urgent financial assistance was required for the event. Believing the call to be genuine and related to a party programme, Sanjeev arranged ₹10 lakh along with his associate leader Pawan Sharma. Both reportedly contributed ₹5 lakh each.
Later that night, around 11 pm, the two leaders reached a hotel in Chandigarh as instructed by the caller. There, they met a man named Deepak at the parking area. After confirming the details over the phone, Sanjeev handed over the money to him. He also managed to take a photograph of the person while giving the cash.
The next day, the caller demanded another ₹5 lakh. However, when Sanjeev refused to provide more money, the caller stopped answering calls. Later, after contacting senior Congress leaders, Sanjeev discovered that no such training programme had been scheduled.
The victim initially avoided filing a complaint due to embarrassment, but later approached the police after learning about similar scams and related police action. Police have started examining the mobile number used in the fraud and other digital evidence.
Superintendent of Police Chander Mohan has directed Thanesar City Police Station to investigate the case. Authorities are tracing the accused and analysing digital records to identify those involved in the scam.