Five working in Jagan Mohan Reddy's office arrested for forging signatures

VIJAYAWADA: Five people have been arrested in Andhra Pradesh for forging digital signatures of officers in Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy's office (CMO). The accused, Kanamarla Srinu, Guthula Seetha Ramaiah, Nalajala Sai Ram, Bhukya Chaitanyanayak, and Abdul Razak, were all employees of CMO.

Revealing the details of the crime, CID SP Harshavardhan Raju said, "The accused were working in the offices of Chief Secretary Jawahar Reddy, Chief Minister's Secretary Reva Muthyala Raju, Chief Minister's Additional Secretary Dhanunjay Reddy."

The accused allegedly used the e-office login credentials of CMO secretaries to prepare Chief Minister Petitions (CMPs) without their knowledge. They would then send the CMPs to the concerned departments for action, using the digital signatures of the secretaries, he added.

In some cases, the accused would even cut and paste the signatures of the secretaries onto the CMPs. They would then charge a fee to the MLAs, MPs, or ministers who had submitted the CMPs.

The scam was eventually uncovered when a CMP that had been prepared by Kanamrala Srinu was circulated to the CMO. The CMO officials became suspicious and investigated the matter, which led to the arrest of the five accused.

The accused have been booked under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, including cheating, forgery, and criminal conspiracy and sent to judicial custody.

The CMO has warned the public to be wary of such scams. They have advised people not to submit CMPs through unauthorised channels. They have also advised people not to pay any money to anyone who claimed to be able to process their CMPs.