Criminal Investigation Department officials on Monday arrested the Assistant Director of the Agriculture Department in K.R. Pete and his assistant on the charge of sending a fake letter to the Governor, with forged signatures of officials, accusing Agriculture Minister N. Chaluvaraya Swamy of corruption.
The accused, Guruprasad, and his assistant, Sudarshan, reportedly stole the letterhead from the Mandya office and forged the signatures of officials of seven taluks with a complaint that the Minister was demanding money from officials.
Taking a serious note, the government ordered a CID inquiry into the incident. The CID officials found that the letter was mailed from a post office in Saraswathipuram in Mysuru.
A team of officials went to the post office and found that the CCTV camera was not working. However the officials checked the footage from in and around the area before zeroing in on the accused.
The duo was produced in court and taken into custody for three days for a detailed probe. The investigation will try to find the reason behind writing the letter and whether there are more people involved or whether there was any pressure from anyone, a police officer said.
However, former Chief Minister and JD(S) leader H.D. Kumaraswamy, who led the charge against the Minister in the case, said the CID probe had revealed that the letter was indeed written by officials of the Agriculture Department, indicating the charges were indeed true.
