BELAGAVI: The rural development and panchayat raj department has filed a complaint at the Vidhana Soudha police station claiming forged documents pertaining to deceased Belagavi civil contractor Santosh K Patil’s case are being circulated in public domain.
In a WhatsApp death note, Patil, who died by suicide, had accused former minister KS Eshwarappa of refusing to clear pending bills to the tune of Rs 4 crore. Eshwarappa, who was forced to resign as RDPR minister, denied that he had sanctioned the work and pointed out that no work orders were issued.
Now, a document on the letterhead of Asha Aihole, former president, Belagavi zilla panchayat, which has notations in green ink allegedly by RDPR department officials granting sanction for the 108 works, is being circulated among scribes. The RDPR department says the document is fake.
The forged letter shows Aihole had first written to the RDPR principal secretary on February 15, 2021. It shows the RDPR department granted approval for the work on February 17. It also states a work order would be issued on March 5. The document has the RDPR seal.
LK Atheeq, additional chief secretary, RDPR, told ToI: “We did receive a letter [from Aihole] but since no funds were available to sanction work, we filed the letter. The version [of the letter] being circulated now in the media has some writings in green ink which do not belong to anyone in the government.
It appears to be a forgery by someone who has obtained a receipt with the seal from the office. We don’t write approvals like that on letters. We have filed a police complaint at Vidhana Soudha police station. ”
Vidhana Soudha police confirmed that have field a case against unknown miscreants under several sections of IPC including 465, 468, 469 and 470 which all deal with forgery.
Just prior to his death, Patil has shared a copy of the original letter Aihole had written with this correspondent. A comparison suggests the letter being circulated on social media is a forgery. While the dates on both are handwritten, they do not match. Aihole’s signature also appears forged.
Aihole admitted she wrote to the department, but did not receive approval. She said she had no clue about the fake letter.
