Congress receives Rs 2.81 crore within 48 hours of launching crowdfunding campaign
New Delhi, Dec 20: The Congress received Rs 2.81 crore within 48 hours of launching its crowdfunding campaign, with more than 1.13 lakh people donating to the party.
The crowdfunding campaign -- "Donate for Desh" -- was launched on Monday by party chief Mallikarjun Kharge with a donation of Rs 1.38 lakh.
While 80 per cent of the transactions to donate money to the party were through UPI, sources said there were as many as 20,000 cyber attacks on the Congress app.
Most of the cyber attacks were from abroad, they said, adding that there were 1,340 attacks for theft of data too.
More than 1,13,700 people donated in the first 48 hours with a total sum of Rs 2.81 crore credited to the party, the sources said.
Thirty-two people, including former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi and senior party leaders, have donated more than Rs 1 lakh.
The sources said the Congress will innovate further to generate more funds for the party ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls by selling merchandise, such as caps signed by Gandhi, mugs and t-shirts.
Among the states that have made maximum contributions are Maharashtra (Rs 56 lakh), Rajasthan (Rs 26 lakh), Delhi (Rs 20 lakh), Uttar Pradesh (Rs 19 lakh) and Karnataka (Rs 18 lakh).
A party leader said a large number of people have donated in Bihar but the amount is small.
He said the party's aim is to reach out to more and more people through the campaign and connect as many people with the Congress as possible.
The sources said more than one crore people have hit the application so far, adding that the crowdfunding would gain momentum during a December 28 rally in Nagpur to mark the party's foundation day.
The Congress will soon appoint observers in various states to step up the campaign.
Besides Kharge and Gandhi, Ashok Gehlot, C P Joshi, Sushilkumar Shinde, Devender Yadav, Pawan Khera, Jairam Ramesh, Niranjan Pattanayak and Pariniti Shinde were among those who donated more than Rs 1 lakh.
The campaign was launched to coincide with the 138th year of the formation of the Congress.
The party said the initiative is inspired by Mahatma Gandhi's historic "Tilak Swaraj Fund", which was launched more than 100 years ago in 1920-21.
The initiative aims at empowering the party in creating an India that is rich in equal resource distribution and opportunities, a senior leader said.
Donors have been asked to donate in the multiples of Rs 138, symbolising the party's enduring commitment to a better India.
The party has created two online channels for the crowdfunding campaign -- a dedicated portal at donateinc.in and the official Congress website at inc.in.
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Traffic fraud: Fake 'no-entry' sticker racket busted in Delhi, mastermind among 3 held
New Delhi (PTI): Police here have busted a crime syndicate involved in traffic fraud and extortion, arresting three people including the alleged mastermind who sold fake stickers to help commercial vehicles bypass no-entry restrictions, an official said on Saturday.
The police said they dismantled a third organised syndicate linked to traffic-related frauds, with the arrest of Rinku Rana alias Bhushan, his associate Sonu Sharma and Mukesh Kumar alias Pakodi, who was also connected to another extortion syndicate.
According to the police, Rinku Rana was running a well-organised network that facilitated the movement of commercial goods vehicles during restricted hours by selling fake 'marka' or stickers for Rs 2,000 to Rs 5,000 per vehicle every month. The stickers were falsely projected as authorisation to evade traffic challans.
During raids, the police recovered Rs 31 lakh in cash, property documents worth several crores of rupees, over 500 fake stickers and six mobile phones allegedly used to operate the syndicate.
The crackdown followed a complaint filed by a traffic police officer in April this year after a commercial vehicle tried to evade checking by producing a fake sticker claiming exemption from enforcement action.
Investigation revealed that social media groups were being used to coordinate the illegal movement of vehicles and alert drivers about traffic police checkpoints, police said.
"A parallel system was being run to cheat drivers and vehicle owners while undermining traffic enforcement. On the basis of evidence, provisions related to organised crime under the BNS were invoked," a senior police officer said.
Sonu Sharma, the police said, managed social media groups through which stickers were sold and real-time alerts were circulated regarding traffic police movement. He also acted as a link between Rana and drivers operating in the field.
In a related development, Mukesh Kumar alias Pakodi, an associate of Rajkumar alias Raju Meena, who was earlier arrested under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA), was also apprehended.
Mukesh allegedly helped extort money from transporters and was involved in blackmailing traffic police personnel by recording enforcement actions, the police said.
Investigators alleged the syndicate led by Rajkumar deployed drivers to deliberately violate traffic rules and secretly record police officials during challans, later using manipulated videos to extort money under threat of false allegations.
The police said that in total, eight accused belonging to three different organised crime syndicates linked to traffic frauds and extortion have been arrested so far.
Further investigation is underway to trace the remaining members, conduct financial probes, and analyse digital evidence recovered during the raids, officials added.
