Juhu resident booked for impersonating NCP MP, seeking money from Qatar royal family

A 35-year-old man impersonating NCP MP Praful Patel tried to cheat the Qatar royal family over WhatsApp. Booked for cheating, he cited family hardships.

MUMBAI: A 35-year-old commerce graduate from Juhu who suffered heavy losses in his business and tried to extract money from the Qatar royal family over WhatsApp by allegedly impersonating NCP MP Praful Patel has been booked for cheating by personation by the Maharashtra cyber police. The accused’s father died a few years ago while his mother suffers from cancer, he told the police during interrogation on Friday.

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The matter came to light after the royal family found the WhatsApp messages suspicious and shared the screenshots with Patel’s office. The MP’s office checked the details and confirmed that a fake WhatsApp account had been created using Patel’s name and photograph, following which his staff member Vivek Agnihotri contacted the police.

“Based on Agnihotri’s complaint, we investigated the matter and traced the man. He was brought to the Maharashtra cyber office today and interrogated for some time. We recorded his initial statement, but since he was not feeling well, we allowed him to leave,” said special inspector general (IG) Yasashvi Yadav of Maharashtra cyber.

According to the police, the accused had suffered heavy losses after investing in hotels and therefore needed money and employment urgently. He accessed a paid website containing mobile numbers of businessmen and VVIPs and paid ₹500 to obtain a mobile number similar to that of Patel. He also obtained the mobile number of an advisor to the Qatar royal family from the same website.

“We cannot reveal how much money the suspect had sought as the investigation is ongoing and we need extract his WhatsApp chats,” said a cyber police officer.

The accused has been booked under section 66 (d) of the Information Technology Act and he will be interrogated against tomorrow, the officer added.