Berhampur: Odisha Police Saturday arrested a man for allegedly demanding money impersonating himself as the personal assistant (PA) of BJP national president Nitin Nabin, officials said.
The accused has been identified as Jagannath Mandal, 28, a resident of Panchama under Golanthara police station in Ganjam district.
The accused has allegedly demanded Rs 50,000 from two different individuals on April 1 through the WhatsApp number for party work. He had also threatened to lodge a complaint against them with the BJP president, the police said.
One of the persons has lodged a complaint against the accused person in Town police station here on Friday, while another complaint was lodged by another man at the Bada Bazar police station, they said.
Based on their complaints, police had registered cases against Mandal at the two police stations here and arrested him.
Berhampur SP Saravana Vivek M said the preliminary investigation has revealed that the accused was arrested on December 13, 2024, in a cheating case.
He was residing in Surat in Gujarat and Berhampur interchangeably and was engaged in fraudulent activities, including deceptive hoax calls to political workers while impersonating personal assistants of prominent political figures, the SP said.
The SP advised people to remain vigilant against impersonation and fraudulent calls. He urged to verify the identity and credentials of any person claiming to represent political leaders, parties or government officials before responding to financial demands or sharing sensitive information.
Any suspicious calls of this nature may be reported to the nearest police station immediately, he added.
