Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D. K. Shivakumar has termed the letter to Foxconn Chairman to relocate its unit from Hyderabad to Bengaluru as a fake and an FIR has been lodged with the Cyber crime police in Bengaluru.
Mr. Shivakumar in a post on X (formerly Twitter) termed the letter in circulation as fake and stated that a FIR was lodged with the Cybercrime Police Station in the City (Bengaluru). Taking to a social media platform to he said the letter circulating on social media, saying that “I have written a letter to Foxconn Group to relocate the Apple AirPod manufacturing plant from Hyderabad to Bangaluru is fake”.
However, reports appearing in the regional language (Kannada) media in Karnataka are indicating that the Congress government there has been making efforts to get at least some tech units shifted from Hyderabad to Bengaluru at a time when the ruling BRS in Telangana is tied up with Assembly elections. The regional language newspaper reports state that not just Mr. Shivakumar but another Minister M.B. Patil has also written to several national and multinational companies to relocate their units in other States to Bengaluru by offering incentives.
The Bengaluru cyber crime police have launched an investigation into a fake letter that has gone viral, which was purported to be written by Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, requesting Foxconn company to relocate to Bengaluru from Hyderabad.
The fake letter, which went viral, caused a stir in poll-bound Telangana, where Mr. Shivakumar has been campaigning for the Congress. Telangana Minister K. T. Rama Rao reposted several social media posts by others that said the letter was an indication of a conspiracy by Congress to rob Hyderabad of global investments.
The fake letter was being circulated on social media to tarnish his image, Mr. Shivakumar said, adding a complaint had been filed and a detailed probe would follow.
The two page fake letter circulated on social media forging the official letter with Karnataka State government logo, reference number and even fake signature of Mr. Shivakumar was addressed to the chairman of Foxconn. The Cyber crime police are now trying to locate the IP address to check where the letter originated from.
