New Delhi, July 27
The Maharashtra police booked a Mumbai-based businessman for allegedly creating a fake WhatsApp account under the name and photo of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Praful Patel and seeking money.
The businessman has been identified as Rahul Kant from Juhu. He claimed that he needed the money for his mother's cancer treatment.
The police stated that Kant’s business had failed, leaving him unable to afford his mother's medical expenses. He used a paid application that grants access to the personal numbers of VIPs. He obtained Patel’s number and, using Patel’s photo, reached out to the royals via WhatsApp.
The matter came to the fore on July 20, when Patel was alerted by the Qatari royals about the suspicious messages. Initially, Patel thought his phone had been hacked. "I urge everyone to verify identities before engaging in monetary transactions," Patel had posted.
Kant has been booked under the Information Technology Act as well as forgery and cheating under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. The WhatsApp account has since been deactivated.
