3 conmen held for trying to cheat MP

Three fake scribes approach a Jharkhand MP and threaten to implicate him in a case, reports Vijaita Singh.

Three men posing as journalists had approached a Member of Parliament (MP) from Jharkhand and threatened to implicate him in a case by carrying out a fake sting operation on him. The MP smelt a rat and informed the police and the three persons were arrested from the MP’s house in North Avenue on Sunday afternoon.

HT Image

On May 6, Rameshwar Orao, an MP from Ranchi, was contacted over the phone by a man who posed as the secretary to Tribal Affairs Minister PR Kyndiah. “The man who identified himself as the secretary of the Minister told me that he has a plan for a Rs 18,000-crore project for tribals and wanted me to be a part of it. He said if I would sign the papers, he would give me 5 per cent commission,” Orao told

Hindustan Times

.

Orao said when he checked with the Minister’s office, he found that though there was a secretary by the same name, he had no authority to discuss about such plans with anyone. “On May 7, I went to meet the Minister. He confronted his secretary in front of me. The secretary told me that he never made a call. I knew something was wrong. The man called me again on Saturday and I asked him to come home,” said Orao.

The MP had informed the police by then. Three men entered the MP’s house around 12:30 pm on Sunday. “They started talking to me about the deal. They were coercing me to sign some papers. When I asked them to explain me the deal, they replied incoherently,” the MP said.

In the meantime, policemen in plainclothes started searching their belongings and found a hidden camera and some notepads inside their bag. “They started telling us that they have a tie-up with

Aaj Tak

and were conducting a sting operation. They also told me that they will not air the operation, if some money is paid to them,” added the MP.

The accused have been identified as Pankaj Gupta, Sanjay Tiwari and Ratandeep Gupta. The police recovered visiting cards introducing them as Editor-in-Chief and Managing Editors of

Ujalanews.com

and a newspaper called

Hindustan People

. “We have taken the accused in two days’ police custody,” said a senior police officer. The police have booked the three men on charges of cheating and impersonation.

QW Naqwi, News Editor,

Aaj Tak

, said, “These men do not belong to

Aaj Tak

.”