2 linked to Sena held for duping leaders
Nikhil Bhardwaj
Tribune News Service
Ludhiana, May 14
The police claim to have busted a gang allegedly involved in duping leaders of various political parties, mainly the Congress, in the state with the arrest of two persons, both Shiv Sena (Suryavanshi) leaders.
The kingpin used to make calls to leaders posing as election strategist Prashant Kishor, principal adviser to the Chief Minister. The Tribune had earlier highlighted how the gang had been targeting political leaders by promising them party ticket in lieu of money.
Tried to trap ludhiana MLA
The gang had offered a Congress MLA from Ludhiana a party ticket for the upcoming Assembly elections. The MLA informed the Ludhiana police and a trap was laid, leading to the arrest of two members.
Those arrested have been identified as Rajat Kumar, alias Raja, alias Madan, and Rakesh Bhasin, both Amritsar residents. Kingpin Gaurav Sharma, also from Amritsar, who impersonated Kishor is yet to be arrested.
Sources said the three-member gang was involved in swindling crores of rupees from leaders by promising political gains either by arranging ticket for the Assembly elections or plum political posts.
Joint CP (Rural) Dr Sachin Gupta said the gang had amassed crores of rupees by duping general public and political leaders. A stolen Scorpio car with a fake registration number had been seized. Rakesh was arrested from Jalandhar on May 11, while Rajat was nabbed yesterday near Phagwara.
Targeted AAP members too
The gang had duped some state AAP members by posing as Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, said sources. A police official said some leaders were contacted by the kingpin, who took huge sums in lieu of giving them party ticket.
Investigation revealed Rakesh was the national president of Shiv Sena (Suryavanshi), while Rajat was the national secretary of the outfit.
Rakesh had received four gunmen for his personal security from the Punjab Police. The suspects faced cases of drug smuggling, fraud, forgery, etc. at various police stations of Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Bihar. Gaurav was allegedly linked to international smugglers dealing in drugs.
