After Vishwanath, another MLA's letterhead forged

In yet another case of counterfeiting involving elected representatives, the letterhead and signature of Mayakonda MLA N Linganna were forged for a petition seeking facilities for members of the SC community.

This has come to light days after the signature of the chief minister’s political secretary S R Vishwanath was forged.

According to Linganna,
two separate petitions under his letterhead were submitted to Deputy Chief Minister Govind Karjol, seeking funds under various schemes to 12 people. “This is not even my signature,” he told Karjol, while complaining about the letter.

Financial assistance

In the forged letter dated October 8, a copy of which is available with DH, the accused sought financial assistance to the tune of Rs 1.2 crore under Industries, Services, Business (ISB) scheme to 12 applicants. While five of the 12 sought Rs 10 lakh each under the scheme to buy tractors, two sought funds to buy a taxi and five others sought funds to start a garments business.

Curiously, the letters also had the official names of the files put up by the Social Welfare department for the proposals by the 12 applicants. While the first letter was dated October 8, the second was dated October 10.

After Linganna alerted the DyCM about the forged letter, Karjol said it was difficult to distinguish between original and counterfeit letters. “Moreover, when people come with letters of recommendations from MLAs and MLCs, it is very difficult to reject their requests,” he said.

Chikkaballapur Zilla Panchayat assistant secretary Chandrakanth B K was booked on charges of forging the letterhead and signature of Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa’s political secretary S R Vishwanath, in a bid to seek transfer to Bengaluru.