Teenager poses as Amit Shah's son to extort money from Uttarakhand BJP MLA, arrested

Haridwar: Uttarakhand Police has arrested a teenager for allegedly posing as Union Minister Amit Shah's son and demanding Rs 5 lakh from BJP MLA from Haridwar's Ranipur, Adesh Chauhan, over the phone, an official said on Tuesday.

Two more people were involved with him in the plan, one of whom has been arrested, while the third is being searched by the police.

Haridwar Senior Superintendent of Police Pramod Singh Dobal said that 19-year-old Priyanshu Pant, who called the MLA and demanded money, was arrested by Haridwar Police from Delhi late on Monday evening, while Uvesh Ahmed, who was involved with him in the plan, was arrested from Rudrapur in Udham Singh Nagar district.

Dobal added that Gaurav Nath, who was also involved in the scheme, is being searched for.

He also mentioned that the three accused had attempted to extort money from two other Uttarakhand MLAs -- Nainital MLA Sarita Arya and Rudrapur MLA Shiv Arora -- by promising to make them ministers. Cases have also been registered in Nainital and Rudrapur in connection with this matter.

It has been learned that the three youths, in pursuit of a luxurious life, used to call MLAs and demand money.

Late Sunday evening, MLA Adesh Chauhan received a call from an unknown number in which the caller introduced himself as Union Home Minister Amit Shah's son, Jay Shah, and asked for a Rs 5 lakh donation to the party fund.

Chauhan became suspicious and, when he expressed his doubts, the caller began using inappropriate language and threatened to defame him on social media if he did not give the money.

Following this, Chauhan's public relations officer Romish Kumar lodged a complaint at the Bahadarabad police station. The police registered a case under the Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita and began searching for the accused.

Dobal said that police teams, formed to solve the case, tracked the mobile phone's CDR, IMEI numbers, and locations. After raiding several locations in Ghaziabad and Delhi, Pant was arrested in Delhi with the mobile used in the crime.

Pant confessed that in his desire to live a luxurious life. He and his associates, Uvesh Ahmed and Gaurav Nath, had hatched a plan to extort money from the MLAs, police added.