Ahmedabad Paan Seller Poses As Kutch MP To Scam Locals, Arrested

Kutch: A 42-year-old man from Ahmedabad, who allegedly impersonated influential people to extract money has been arrested by Kutch Police, an official statement said. 

The accused has been identified as Ritesh Joshi. 

Officials stated that an FIR was filed against Joshi after he attempted to extort money, claiming it was for the Ganesha festival while impersonating Kutch MP Vinod Chavda.

Joshi, who operates a paan shop in the Bapunagar area of Ahmedabad, was arrested by Kutch police following the complaint lodged at the B Division police station in Gandhidham on September 9.

Paan Seller Called Complainant To Transfer Money

Prabhakar (complainant) received a call from Joshi, who was impersonating Kutch MP Vinod Chavda, requesting him to transfer Rs 15,000 to a cooperative bank account. Prabhakar complied, but later discovered that the phone number did not belong to Chavda. In 2021, Joshi had three offenses filed against him at Anjar police station for soliciting money under various pretenses while posing as Chavda.

Called Furniture Company Owner To Transfer Money For COVID Funds 

In this incident, Joshi contacted the victim, Avnish Tripathi, pretending to be Chavda. Tripathi, an employee at a private company, was asked to provide the owner’s phone number. When Tripathi inquired why, Joshi claimed the company needed to donate ₹5 lakh for ration kits for those affected by COVID. After informing his superiors, they called the number back and were convinced it was the MP. They then transferred the funds. Joshi made two additional calls, managing to extract another ₹2 lakh before the fraud was uncovered.

"This person was defrauding people by posing as an influential person. The modus operandi was that he used a phone number similar to the influential person, like them having the same four last digits, to gain the trust of his victims," Kutch Superintendent of police Sagar Bagmar said. 

A case has been registered and further investigation is underway, officials said.