Police are investigating a complaint pertaining to unauthorised remarks on a letter seeking grants for road and drain works in Belagavi district.
On Thursday, Ramesh D O, Deputy Director, Department of Rural Development and Panchayat Raj, filed a complaint at the Vidhana Soudha police station, stating that someone had forged a government officer's signature and jotted unauthorised remarks on a letter written by the Belagavi zilla panchayat president, Asha Prashant Rao Aihole.
Aihole wrote the letter on February 15, 2021, requisitioning government grants for 108 different works related to drains and roads in Hindalga village. The requisition was received on February 17 in the department's office.
On the front page of the letter, someone had written in Kannada in green ink: "Order copy will be given on March 15, 2021". On the last page these words were written in Kannada in green ink: "ordered sanction/approval". The writer had signed the date, February 26, 2021.
According to Ramesh, no officers in his department had signed on the letter or written those remarks, which were not mentioned in the requisition letter either, as against the standard practice.
Ramesh asked the police to trace the person who forged the signature and wrote those remarks.
Confirming the receipt of the complaint, a senior police officer said they needed to check the documents submitted by Ramesh before taking further action.
Watch latest videos by DH here: