Maharashtra: Man held for creating fake account in BJP MLA's name on social media, sending messages to women

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A 28-year-old man was arrested for allegedly creating a fake social media account in the name of a BJP MLA and sending messages to women in Thane district of Maharashtra, the police said on Monday, according to the PTI.

An offence under section 499 (defamation) and other relevant provisions of the Indian Penal Code and Informational Technology Act has been registered against the accused at Kolsewadi police station of Kalyan division, an official said, reported the PTI.

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BJP MLA Ganpat Gaikwad in his complaint has alleged that some women had approached him saying that they had received messages from an account, which was in his name, he said, as per the PTI.

The legislator from Kalyan east constituency in Maharashtra approached the police and the accused was arrested on Saturday, the official said.

The accused, who is a taxi driver, created a fake Facebook account in Gaikwad's name and sent messages to women, he said, adding that further probe is underway.

In an another incident in May this year, fraudsters had allegedly created a fake Facebook account in the name of an Indian Police Service (IPS) officer who had been then posted in Mumbai. The fraudsters were found to be approaching his contacts to seek their information and monetary help, a Mumbai police official had earlier said.

A complaint was also filed with the Mumbai cyber police following which the fake Facebook account was deleted.

During the probe into the matter, the police found a man posing as the IPS officer demanded his contact person's mobile number and money also, the official said.

The contact person suspected something wrong and he immediately approached the IPS officer on his mobile number and alerted him.

The officer then alerted all his contacts and lodged a complaint with the cyber police, the officials had earlier said.

The IPS officer had also share a Facebook post that said, "Some fraudster has created fake account on my name and sending random messages to some of my contacts as below. I am taking prompt legal action. But pl do not respond or share any kind of info as it must be attempt to dupe!"

(with PTI inputs)