“This is Kanishk Singh, Rahul Gandhi’s secretary speaking…” – Haryana Congress leader swindled out of ₹10 lakh

New Delhi: A case has come to light where a Congress leader was allegedly defrauded of ₹10 lakh through a fake fundraiser by an individual posing as the personal secretary of Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha.

According to the FIR, Sanjeev, an executive member of the Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee, received a WhatsApp call on January 24 from a person claiming to be Kanishk Singh, Rahul Gandhi’s secretary. The caller informed him about a scheduled training program for the Uttarakhand Congress unit in Chandigarh and requested financial assistance for the event.

‘Pretext of a visit by party high command’
According to the police, the individual told Sanjeev—a resident of Bhukri village—that members of the party high command would attend the program and that he would be entrusted with arranging hotel accommodation and other logistical needs. The police stated that Sanjeev was also promised a meeting with senior party leaders.

The ruse exposed after a photo was taken
Believing the call to be genuine, Sanjeev and his fellow leader Pawan Sharma pooled ₹5 lakh each. Around 11 PM that night, acting on the instructions of the alleged Kanishk, they arrived at a hotel in Chandigarh. There, in the parking area, they met a man named Deepak. After speaking on the phone, Sanjeev handed the money to Deepak but managed to take a photograph of him while doing so.

Another ₹5 lakh demanded the next day
The following day, the caller allegedly demanded an additional ₹5 lakh; when Sanjeev refused to pay, the caller stopped answering his phone. Later, upon inquiring with party officials, it was revealed that no such training program had been scheduled.

The Congress member told the police that he had initially not reported the matter due to embarrassment. However, after learning about similar WhatsApp fraud cases and the action taken by the Uttarakhand Police in such instances, he decided to contact the authorities.

Superintendent of Police Chander Mohan stated that he has directed the Thanesar City Police to register a case of fraud and initiate an investigation. The police are examining the mobile numbers and other digital evidence used in the fraud.