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Man held for forging CM, senior officials’ signatures: Police
The accused, identified as HC Venkatesh from Tavaregere in Mandya district, was arrested by Mandya East police on Wednesday.
Bengaluru: A 32-year-old man has been arrested for allegedly forging the signatures of chief minister Siddaramaiah and other high-ranking officials to issue fake job appointment orders, defrauding two people of ₹31 lakh, police said.
The accused, identified as HC Venkatesh from Tavaregere in Mandya district, was arrested by Mandya East police on Wednesday.
Mandya superintendent of police (SP) Mallikarjuna Baladandi said that the victims, Netravati from Gandhinagar and Mallesh from Kallahalli, filed complaints after realising they were duped with promises of high-ranking government jobs.
“He posed as an official working at Bengaluru’s Vidhana Soudha and convinced one of the complainants that he could secure the post of deputy director in the public education department for her son, N Darshan, in exchange for ₹12.24 lakh. In another instance, he took ₹19 lakh from a victim by promising a senior position in the commercial taxes department. The accused claimed close connections with top government officials to gain their trust,” Baladandi told HT.
He further said that Venkatesh orchestrated the scam in stages. “He initially asked the victims to deposit ₹15 lakh into his bank account, assuring them that their money was safe. Believing his claims, the victims provided copies of their educational documents via WhatsApp. Over time, he received a total of ₹9.24 lakh through bank transfers from multiple accounts and took an additional ₹12.24 lakh under the pretext of office expenses,” he said..
“In another case, he falsely claimed to have secured a direct appointment as a senior accountant/senior audit officer in the commercial tax department, stating that he had helped many people get government jobs. Trusting his assurances, Mallesh handed over his documents and later transferred ₹19 lakh in multiple transactions,” the officer said.
He said that Venkatesh provided digitally signed appointment letters, official documents purportedly signed by senior government officials, and even a note bearing CM Siddaramaiah’s signature. “The fraud came to light when the victims reported to the respective government offices to assume their positions and discovered that their appointment letters were fake.”
Baladandi said that a manhunt has been launched for Venkatesh’s accomplices, as investigations suggest he was running the fraud for several months with the help of intermediaries. “A case has been registered at Mandya East police station under charges of forgery and cheating.”
