Andhra Pradesh Women and Child Welfare Minister Tanneti Vanitha on Thursday filed a complaint with Director General of Police (DGP) Gautham Sawang, alleging that her signature was forged in a recommendation letter.
Vanitha, who also submitted a representation to Home Minister Mekathoti Sucharita, alleged that a person, identified as Redappa, even forged her letterhead. The forged letter was sent to the Kadapa District Collector.
"I am herewith forwarding the representation received from M Redappa, resident of Devalampeta village. In this village, 1.26 acres of assigned vacant land is available and it is not useful for cultivation. He has requested to establish a small-scale industry in the above-said land by taking it on government cost. Hence, I request you to consider his representation and allot the above-said land to him to establish a small-scale industry and create employment to the local village persons (sic)," the fake letter stated.
However, when the Collector's office reached out to the office of the Minister to confirm the letter's authenticity, they found out that it was a case of forgery.
In her complaint to DGP Gautham Sawang on Thursday, Vanitha enclosed a copy of the unauthorised letter with the forged signature and said, "This is a matter of serious concern. I request a probe into the matter and severe action against the culprits so that such instances do not recur."
While this is the first such case coming to light in recent times, in 2018, a man from Andhra's East Godavari district was nabbed by the Hyderabad Commissioner's Task Force, after he prepared a fake letterhead and forged the signature of several senior IAS officers in Telangana, including then Principal Finance Secretary K Ramakrishna Rao.
At the time, the Hyderabad police said that the accused had not only forged signatures but had also authorised the release of mobilisation advance of Rs 7.72 crore to the management of a pharmaceutical company through Andhra Bank.