One booked for posing as Rahul aide, seeking funds for Assembly tickets in Gujarat

According to the complaints of both leaders, the accused posed as Kanishk Singh, an aide of Rahul Gandhi, and sought “funds” in lieu of tickets from the Raopura and Waghodia Assembly constituencies, respectively.

Shrivastav said, “I received a call on Facebook and the caller told me to send my details to a number, which he claimed was of Priyanka Gandhi. When I told him to share his original number instead of the Facebook call, he disconnected the call… Thereafter, on the advice of the party, I approached the cyber crime police station.”

Gaekwad, who also received messages on WhatsApp and calls from a Singapore number from the caller posing as Kanishk Singh.

“The caller told me that I was a very strong candidate for the Waghodia constituency and asked me to ‘take care’ of the expenses of the party observers in order to ensure that the report submitted to the high command was not against me… I told the caller that usually the party does not make such demands but if they are party leaders, we will take care of their stay in Vadodara,” Gaekwad said.

Gaekwad added that other Congress leaders including Jambusar MLA Sanjay Solanki had also received such calls.

Assistant Commissioner of Police, Cyber Crime, Hardik Makdiya said that the police had begun a probe.

Makdiya said, “We have also released a statement in order to alert other candidates of different political parties… We have found links of this particular caller in Punjab but we are working on the leads.’ Based on the complaint by Shrivastav and Gaekwad, the Vadodara cyber crime police station has registered an FIR under Indian Penal Code Sections 419, 420, 511 as well as the IT Act 66 (D).

In a statement on Friday, the Vadodara Cyber Crime has warned aspiring candidates from across political parties to “be alert” and safeguard from cyber fraud during elections.