An impostor posing as a Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) member and collecting donations against fake receipts for the proposed construction of Ram temple at Ayodhya was apprehended by the VHP members and handed over to the police in Meerut on Saturday.
The arrested man was also running a fake VHP office in Jagriti Vihar Colony of the city. An FIR was registered at Medical College police station and the police were now searching for his other associates.
VHP Meerut city coordinator Arjun Rathi said that the impostor was identified as Nagendra Rana of Muzaffarnagar and he was taking money from gullible Hindus in the name of Ram temple construction at Ayodhya. He said two of his aides, Samir and Anuj, were also working with Nagendra, but were now missing.
Rathi said that VHP came to know about the fraud when the impostors were collecting money from Maha Shiv temple in Chamundeshwari on Friday.
A case was later registered against Nagendra Rana and a search was underway for tracking the other accused.