Class X drop-out poses as PS to Ram Madhav & Sonia Gandhi, dupes politicians of ₹10 crore
NEW DELHI: The word ‘impostor' sometimes becomes too tame to describe the misadventures of a person who has the audacity to hoodwink senior politicians and lawmakers across the country by posing as the personal assistant to both BJP National general Secretary Ram Madhav and Congress President Sonia Gandhi. The list of ministers and politicians conned by 40-year-old Sanjay in the garb of seeking political donations is unending.
Sanjay Kumar Tiwari, a 40-year-old who could not even clear the class 10 hurdle, managed to con even the high and mighty. He kept an associate who posed as his secretary while he tried to pass himself off as BJP National General Secretary Ram Madhav to make calls to various political leaders.
His most recent target was Amar Kumar Bauri, Revenue, Registration and land minister from Jharkhand. He called the minister repeatedly posing as Ram Madhav and demanded money for party funds. It was sheer coincidence that Bauri was in Delhi and thought of paying a visit to Ram Madhav's office. The meeting helped the minister from falling prey to the confidence trickster. This was then reported to the Crime branch. The cops then formed several teams to nab this con artist.
The accused Sanjay Kumar Tiwari, a resident of Faizabad in UP was arrested along with his associate Gaurav Sharma by Crime branch on January 25 from Mayur Vihar but not before he cheated many senior politicians with his devious modus operandi. He called them to party offices and sent a boy to collect the money.
It has also come to light, that earlier Sanjay worked as a freelance reporter for various channels and has also conducted various sting operations. He also worked with Tehelka founder Tarun Tejpal. He had several brushes with the law for attempting to extort money by conducting sting operations and blackmailing the victims. He was also caught last year by Crime branch when he duped ex BJP MLA Anil Sharma on the pretext of getting poor girls married.
“He confessed to having made a neat Rs 10 crore from his web of deception and also bought various properties. We are verifying how much more he has cheated,” said Madhur Verma, DCP Crime.
NEW DELHI: Though Sanjay Kumar Tiwari could not even pass class X, yet his confidence was so high that he could easily impersonate high qualified lawmakers. His assertive tone brimming with confidence left the senior politicians unsuspecting. They never imagined that the person they are talking to is not actually the PA to Sonia Gandhi or BJP senior leader Ram Madhav himself.
This conman did meticulous Internet research of his high profile targets who were ministers and senior politicians. He selected those politicians who had high aspirations and wanted bigger roles in the party. After selecting the target, he never used to call them up but instead, maintained a protocol. He kept an assistant, his partner in crime, to call up the potential targets. The assistant, Gaurav Sharma, posing as a secretary to Ram Madhav used to say: “Sahab zaroori baat karenge aapse,” (Sir wants to talk to you). The unsuspecting ministers, mostly from distant states like North-east and Bihar, fell in the trap. When the calls were transferred, Sanjay spoke in an authoritative voice giving an impression as if Ram Madhav himself is talking. Giving a call to Congress leaders, he pretended to be Madhavan, PA to Congress president Sonia Gandhi.
“He says he has the ability to convince people. He knew most of the time no cross verification was made. Also, he was careful enough not to use a single SIM card for more than 15 calls. He even broke his mobile phones to avoid detection,” said Madhur Verma, DCP (Crime).
To avoid any suspicion, Sanjay often called the politicians to Delhi’s party office be it BJP or Congress depending on the victim. When the politicians came to the office, he sent a boy looking for them and telling him that he is out of the office. It was then that the politicians were asked to hand over the money to the boy. Politicians who never thought that they would be duped in their own party office, easily parted after handing over the bag of money.