The Andhra Pradesh Crime Investigation Department (CID) has busted a scam run in the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) by officials hired on contractual basis, the police said on Saturday.
The accused have been identified as data entry operator Kanamrala Srinu, G. Seetha Ramayya, Nalajala Sairam, B. Chaitanya Naik and Adbul Razzaq. The probe has revealed that Kanamrala Srinu was the kingpin.
The police said that five persons have arrested in this regard. The accused officials forged digital signatures of senior IAS officers and created duplicate Chief Minister’s Petitions (CMP) and minted money.
The probe has revealed that the accused had issued 66 CMPs between June and August and took Rs 80,000 from the applicants. The CMPs are petitions given to the Chief Minister by the people. Ideally, the concerned IAS officers had to look and forward the petitions to the concerned department secretaries.
The accused used e-office login username and password of IAS officers in the CMO. They used digital signatures without the knowledge of concerned bureaucrats through the e-office. The scam came to light when IAS officer Dhanunjaya Reddy spotted a forged CMP from the home department and found that it was fake.
The police have booked a case under IPC Sections 420, 465 and 471 read with 120B and under the provisions of 66C and D of the I-T Act.
