Dehradun | A major political fraud case has been exposed in Uttarakhand’s capital Dehradun, where an accused impersonated Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s private secretary and allegedly cheated social activist Bhavna Pandey of ₹25 lakh. Police have arrested the accused, Gaurav Kumar, while investigations are ongoing to trace his associates.
According to the complaint, the accused contacted the victim and introduced himself as “Kanishk Singh,” claiming to be the private secretary of Rahul Gandhi. He further stated that an internal organizational survey was being conducted in Uttarakhand and that her name was being considered for the post of state Congress president. On this pretext, he demanded ₹25 lakh.
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On April 13, an associate of the accused visited the victim’s residence in Jakhan, where she handed over ₹25 lakh in cash believing the promise. Soon after receiving the money, the accused stopped all communication, raising suspicion. The victim then filed a complaint at Rajpur Police Station.
During investigation, police found that the accused had created a well-planned fake identity, including a caller ID under the name “Kanishk Singh.” Based on CCTV footage and mobile surveillance, the accused was identified as Gaurav Kumar, originally from Amritsar, Punjab.
Police said the accused is involved in multiple fraud cases across several states. He has allegedly cheated people of crores of rupees by promising political posts and election tickets. In one such case in 2017 in Rajasthan, he allegedly took ₹1.90 crore in the name of securing an assembly ticket.
Investigators revealed that the accused is part of an organized gang with four other members identified as Chhajju, Rajat, Madan, and Maninder Singh Kalu. Efforts are underway to arrest them.
A major revelation in the case is that the accused possessed alleged audio recordings of senior Congress leaders, which he used to gain credibility and manipulate victims. He reportedly used these recordings to convince people that he had direct access to top political leadership.
The investigation also revealed that he had approached several Congress leaders with promises of party tickets, and in some cases, victims may have fallen prey, although many have not come forward due to social pressure.
Police officials said the entire network operated in a highly structured manner using social engineering techniques. The accused collected information about political leaders through social media and online platforms to build a convincing fake identity.
Senior officers confirmed that digital evidence is being thoroughly examined, including bank transactions, mobile records, and call detail records to trace the complete flow of funds involved in the fraud.
The accused is currently in judicial custody, and police are working to dismantle the entire network by identifying all links involved in the operation. The case is being treated as a serious instance of both political impersonation and cyber-enabled financial fraud.
