The Kozhikode City Cyber Police have arrested Nitin and Gaurav, two youths from Delhi, for allegedly making fraudulent WhatsApp calls offering Elathur MLA Vidya Balakrishnan a Cabinet berth in exchange for ₹3 crore. City Police Commissioner A P Shoukathali told the media that the duo was arrested from the Delhi-Haryana border.

"The duo was questioned and they confessed to the incident. They were arrested and produced before a court in Delhi and a transit bail was obtained. They were then brought to Kerala and produced before the court and remanded to custody," he said.

The senior police officer said the duo had been jailed in other states in connection with similar crimes. "In Nashik, the duo attempted to defraud people by claiming that they were calling from the PMO office. We have received information that similar cases have taken place in Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan and we are gathering details about them," he said.

The police had earlier traced the registered owner of the SIM card allegedly used to make the fraudulent WhatsApp calls. However, the 30-year-old Delhi-based daily wage labourer questioned by investigators denied making the calls, claiming that he had lost his mobile phone and SIM card months ago.

"We first traced the owners of the phones used in the crime. They were not connected to the case. After questioning several people and examining CCTV footage, we traced the culprits," he said.

The fraud first came to light on July 6, when Vidya Balakrishnan received the WhatsApp call. Suspecting the caller's claim, she contacted Priyanka Gandhi, who shared a sample voice note of her private secretary D S Rajkumar. After comparing the voices, the MLA concluded that the caller was an impostor.

Vidya Balakrishnan subsequently lodged a complaint with Kozhikode City Police Commissioner A P Shoukathali, who ordered a detailed investigation by the Cyber Crime Police.

Meanwhile, Priyanka Gandhi's private secretary D S Rajkumar also filed a complaint with the Kalpetta Cyber Crime Police after learning that his identity had allegedly been misused in the scam.

Members of Parliament Shafi Parambil and Dean Kuriakose had also received similar WhatsApp calls. Congress leaders later confirmed that all three leaders received identical offers from the same caller.