Gujarat conman who tried to dupe BJP MLAs remanded police custody till May 22

Amitesh Kumar, Commissioner of Police, Nagpur, said that the call details of Rathod showed that he was in touch with at least 30 MLAs promising them ministerial berths with a recommendation from BJP president JP Nadda

Gujarat conman Neeraj Singh Rathod, whose bid to extort money from Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLAs on the promise of ministerial berths in the Eknath Shinde-led government in Maharashtra, was foiled by the police who arrested him from Nagpur earlier this week, was on Saturday remanded to crime branch custody till May 22, police said.

(Representative Photo)

Amitesh Kumar, Commissioner of Police, Nagpur, said that the call details of Rathod showed that he was in touch with at least 30 MLAs promising them ministerial berths with a recommendation from BJP president JP Nadda.

A resident of Morbi in Gujarat’s Ahmedabad district, Rathod, was brought to Nagpur from Ahmedabad and produced before a local court that remanded him to custody, police said.

The incident came to light after Rathod was exposed by BJP MLA from Nagpur Vikas Kumbhare, whom he allegedly called demanding ₹1.67 crore and promised a berth as a rural development minister in the Shinde-Fadnavis cabinet. Kumbhare was allegedly asked to pay the amount as a contribution to help an Assamese BJP leader to win an election who was not financially strong.

Moreover, Rathod has been accused of duping at least three MLAs for ministerial positions. “Rathod confessed that he got money from a few MLAs and even named those legislators. However, the MLAs are denying it,” said a senior police officer.

In several instances, Rathod made the MLAs speak to another person who identified himself as the BJP national president, said police commissioner Kumar, adding that thorough interrogation was yet to be done. Rathod collected the amounts paid to him by MLAs through an online transaction app of a mobile phone user in the vicinity, he also got air tickets to Delhi sponsored by a politician from Kerala, said the commissioner.

Subsequently, online transactions were carried out by the duped MLAs under the influence of several persuasive phone calls from Rathod, posing as the PA of the BJP National President.

While three MLAs from Maharashtra were duped, none of the other 30 MLAs gave into Rathod’s ruse. The senior police official highlighted the significance of recorded conversations as key evidence in building a strong case against the swindler.

The implicated MLAs, who interacted with Rathod, are expected to provide vital testimony to assist the investigation. The police initiated action on the complaint of Kumbhare and arrested Rathod from his residence on Tuesday, and brought him to Nagpur on Wednesday night.