Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Purandar Mishra from Raipur North was allegedly duped of Rs 10,000 after receiving a phone call from a man posing as the personal assistant of BJP National President Nitin Nabin. The incident has once again highlighted the growing threat of cyber fraud and impersonation scams even among public representatives.
According to officials, Mishra received a call from an unknown number and asked the caller to identify himself. The person on the other end allegedly claimed to be the personal assistant of Nitin Nabin and said he urgently needed financial help. Mishra reportedly attempted to verify the caller’s identity before transferring the money.
The MLA checked the number through the caller identification application Truecaller, where the contact details allegedly appeared in the name of the person the caller claimed to be. Convinced that the request was genuine, Mishra transferred Rs 10,000 in two separate transactions, first sending Rs 4,500 followed by another payment of Rs 5,500.
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However, Mishra later became suspicious after the caller allegedly made another request for money and the conversation began to appear unusual. Sensing possible fraud, the BJP legislator immediately contacted the police and lodged a First Information Report (FIR) regarding the incident.
Police launched a technical investigation soon after receiving the complaint and traced the accused’s location to Odisha. According to officials, the suspect was arrested within five hours of the FIR being registered. Authorities have not yet disclosed further details about the accused or whether similar fraud cases are linked to the same individual.
Speaking about the incident, Mishra said he transferred the money believing that someone genuinely required urgent assistance. He added that he approached the police as soon as he sensed irregularities in the conversation. The case has renewed concerns over increasingly sophisticated cyber fraud techniques, including impersonation scams that exploit trusted identities and digital verification tools.
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