Karnataka: Government official in dock over MLA's forged signature

BENGALURU: Chief minister's political adviser and Yelahanka MLA SR Vishwanath lodged a police complaint on Friday, stating that his signature and that of CM BS Yediyurappa have been forged by an official seeking transfer from Chikkaballapura to Bengaluru Urban zilla panchayat (ZP).


A complaint has been lodged with Vidhana Soudha police against the official, Chandrakant BK, who works as assistant secretary in Chikkaballapura ZP.

Police sources said, "Vishwanath's letterhead has been stolen and signatures have been forged. We have to find out if Chandrakanth had done it to get a plum posting by taking advantage of the transfers being effected by the Yediyurappa government or if it's the handiwork of mischief-mongers."

The September 18 letter, a copy of which is with STOI, said the transfer was being sought to take care of his aged parents. The CM's office allegedly forwarded the letter to the department of personnel and administrative reforms (DPAR) to look into the issue; it had Yediyurappa's initials as 'BYS' instead of 'BSY'. A month later, Vishwanath found that a letter was sent to the CM's office in his name and he informed Vidhana Soudha police and registered a case. Police sources said the letter was okayed by DPAR, which was in the process of issuing a transfer order.

Vidhana Soudha police said a case has been registered under IPC 420 (cheating), 465 (forgery), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating) and 471 (using forged document as genuine). Police are not ruling out the involement of powerbrokers who specialise in helping officials with transfers.