Cybercrime police have launched an investigation against an unknown person for allegedly misusing the name of Sudhir Mungantiwar, the Minister for Forests, Cultural Affairs, and Fisheries, by creating a bogus WhatsApp group to dupe physically challenged people.

According to the police, the complainant in the case is Chandrasekhar Shishupal Lautawar, the minister’s personal assistant. Lautawar told the police that he had received information that a person was asked by someone to anchor an event where the Mungantiwar would be distributing free vehicles to the disabled citizens at Kasturchand Park on August 15.

The fraudster demanded Rs1,000 from disabled persons for registration. However, when the anchor demanded advance, the fraudster began avoiding, and that is when the anchor suspected something foul and raised this issue on social media.

Further enquiries revealed that the scammer had also created a WhatsApp group to make these false claims with the intention to dupe citizens. A case has been filed by Lautawar with the Cyber Police Station, Nagpur City under sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Information Technology Act.