Indore: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi might have been grappling with organisational challenges, but his 22-year-old namesake from Indore in Madhya Pradesh is worried, not over political reasons, but because of the famous name.

Fed up with the difficulties he encounter while convincing others that he was not a "fake" person, this textile trader is now mulling to get rid of the famous surname.

"I have a Aadhaar card as the only document of my identity. When I furnish a copy of this document to purchase a mobile SIM card or for any other work, people consider me a fake person because of my name...they look at me with suspicion," Rahul, a resident of Akhand Nagar, told PTI on Tuesday.

"When I introduce myself to unknown people over phone, many of them abruptly hang up asking how did Rahul Gandhi come to live in Indore? They consider me a fake caller," he rues.

Disclosing the story behind his 'Gandhi' surname, Rahul recalled that top officials of the BSF used to address his father late Rajesh Malviya, who had worked as a washerman in the paramilitary force, as "Gandhi".

"Gradually, my father also developed an attachment to Gandhi surname and adopted it. My name was enrolled as Rahul Gandhi instead of Rahul Malviya when I was admitted to school," he recalled.

Rahul, a class five dropout, said he had nothing to do with party politics but has been facing difficulties because of his title.

"I am now considering changing my surname through legal process," he said.

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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.