Former Indian Minister seeks police inquiry after sudden surge of Facebook likes

A sudden surge of 'likes' on his Facebook page has astounded former Indian Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal, who has approached the police and sought an inquiry.



Suspecting foul play, the Congress MP from Chandigarh has lodged a complaint with the police stating that the number of 'likes' on his Facebook page had shot up from 51,600, on Tuesday to 62,500 on Wednesday.

In his complaint to inspector-general of Chandigarh police R P Upadhyay, Bansal has said he suspected foul play behind the surge in the number of 'likes'. Bansal, who resigned from the railway ministry in May over the Rs 10-crore (£980,000, $1,125,000) 'Railgate', termed it an "abnormal increase".



"This increase happened in just one day and it shows that somebody is doing so without my knowledge and for some ulterior purpose," says the complaint. "Usually, 10 to 20 'likes' are received on my Facebook page every day, but thousands of 'likes' in about 24 hours was alarming," Bansal said. "I'm sure that someone with malicious intentions cooked up these 'likes'." Police forwarded the complaint to the cyber cell for a probe, which will be conducted by DSP Rajesh Kalia.