Man held for forging documents to get VIP passes for Tirupati

A 30-year-old man has been arrested for forging official documents with fake letterheads of home minister G Parameshwara to secure VIP passes for Tirupati temple and extorting money from devotees, police said on Monday.

Tumakuru superintendent of police KV Ashok said that the accused, identified as Maruti Pawar, a resident of Yelahanka, Bengaluru, had been committing the fraud for past several months. The complaint was filed by K. Naganna, officer on special duty to the home minister, after he received a call from the chief minister’s office enquiring about the VIP pass for Tirupati temple.

In the complaint, Naganna said that the accused had previously sought VIP passes several times from the CM’s office but this time they called him up seeking clarification in the matter.

He further said that the accused had used the home minister’s picture as their WhatsApp display image and contacted the Andhra Pradesh chief minister’s Office, pretending to be the home minister. “They reportedly sent fake letterheads, bearing forged signatures of the minister, via WhatsApp to the CM’s office to obtain VIP passes for the temple,” Ashok said.

He further said that the accused allegedly charged devotees between ?6,000 and ?10,000 for access to special privileges at the temple.

“Maruti has been running this fraud for months, issuing VIP passes to devotees seeking Balaji darshan and collecting money. We have booked him under BNS sections 318 (cheating) and 336 (forgery) and presented him before the Tumakuru JMFC court. He has been taken into police custody for five days for interrogation to determine his involvement in other fraudulent activities,” he added.

Naganna, in his complaint stated, when the scam was exposed, Maruti reportedly threatened him stating, “If this issue is exposed, I will kill you. I will claim that the head of the Home Department directed me to do this.” The complaint further alleged that Maruti demanded ?2 lakh to settle the matter and threatened to have Naganna jailed if he failed to comply.

“The police are investigating the extent of the racket and are working to identify other people involved in the fraud,” the officer added.