2 Delhi men held in Kerala over fake ministerial berth offer scam
Cyber police have arrested two Delhi natives in connection with an alleged attempt to dupe some Kerala MPs and an MLA by promising them ministerial berths in the state cabinet in return for Rs 3 crore.
The two accused-Nitin and Gaurav-were brought to Kozhikode from New Delhi on a transit remand on Sunday morning, an officer of the Kozhikode Cyber Police Station said.
They were arrested following a complaint by Elathur MLA K Vidya Balakrishnan, who alleged that a person posing as the private secretary to Wayanad Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra had called her and offered her a ministerial berth in exchange for Rs 3 crore, police said.
Similar calls were allegedly made to Kerala MPs Shafi Parambil and Dean Kuriakose. A complaint in this regard was lodged by DS Rajkumar, private secretary to Vadra, with the state police chief and the Wayanad Superintendent of Police, following which an FIR was registered.
Rajkumar alleged that the accused had misused his identity and the name of the MP’s office in an attempt to cheat the public representatives by demanding money from them.
According to police, Balakrishnan received a WhatsApp call at around 2 pm on July 6 from a person who introduced himself as Rajkumar from Vadra’s office in New Delhi.
The caller allegedly claimed that a cabinet reshuffle was likely in Kerala and that she could be made a minister if she paid Rs 3 crore.
Police said the conversation, which was in English, lasted about 10 minutes. Balakrishnan grew suspicious of the caller’s claims during the conversation.
The caller allegedly told her that she had been recommended by another MP from Kozhikode.
After the call, Balakrishnan contacted the MP, who told her that a person claiming to be from the AICC office had sought the contact details of her and another MLA, police said.
She later contacted Vadra’s office and confirmed that the call was part of an impersonation attempt.
