Firozabad, December 13: Tricksters tried to dupe a local BJP leader here of Rs 15,000 by raising demand of the money using a fake Facebook account of Uttar Pradesh Rural Development Minister Rajendra Singh alias Moti Singh, police said on Sunday.

Firozabad's Senior Superintendent of Police Ajay Kumar Pandey said local BJP leader Amit Gupta has lodged a complaint that someone tried to trick him into parting with the money by sending a request for it through a fake Facebook account of the minister, who is also the in-charge of the Firozabad district. Also Read | Jharkhand Shocker: Woman Allegedly Gangraped by Relatives in Garhwa District, 3 Arrested.

Quoting from Gupta's complaint, the SSP said the leader had received a friendship request on his Facebook account, and thinking it to be a genuine one of the minister, he accepted it.

But soon after accepting the friendship request, he got a mail on it demanding a sum of Rs 15,000, following which he contacted the minister's office and found that it was a fake account. Also Read | Jammu and Kashmir: Two Terrorists Killed, Another Held in Encounter with Security Forces in Poonch District.

Gupta subsequently reported the matter to the police, which registered an FIR and transferred the case of the Cyber Cell of the UP police, said the SSP.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)