Athawale gets fraud call seeking money after 'school trip accident'; alert staff saves the day

Mumbai: Union Minister Ramdas Athawale on Saturday said a caller tried to dupe him with a false accident story but the alertness of his assistant ensured he did not lose money.

Narrating the incident, the Union minister for social justice and empowerment said he was in Bihar yesterday when he received a call from a person who claimed to be a teacher in Shirdi in Maharashtra's Ahilyanagar district.

"The caller claimed a vehicle with students of his school had met with an accident in Gondia, resulting in injuries to 8-10 of them. He sought money through GPay for their treatment. I called up my party workers in Gondia to check and help. Soon, I got a call with the caller claiming the accident took place in Bhandara and the children have been advised to be shifted to JJ Hospital in Mumbai," Athawale told reporters in Shirdi.

The Union minister said he found something amiss since Nagpur, Vidarbha's largest city, is much closer to Bhandara than Mumbai.

"My assistant Sachin Bhati then made inquiries and found the caller was a fraud. Sachin asked me not to transfer any money. I also found out from police that no school from Shirdi has undertaken a trip to Gondia. I will be giving the number from which the call was received to the home department for a thorough probe," Athawale said.