Two brothers held for forging Sushma’s letterhead, signature

Two brothers— a web designer and a junior TV artiste —were arrested for sending a fake recommendation letter to the passport office bearing the signature of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj.
Sushma Swaraj | Reuters
Sushma Swaraj | Reuters

BENGALURU: Two brothers— a web designer and a junior TV artiste —were arrested for sending a fake recommendation letter to the passport office bearing the signature of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj. Police said the duo had applied for their passports but failed to submit proper documents. When officials rejected their application, they sent a fake recommendation letter to the passport office through Speed Post.

Following a complaint lodged by the Regional Passport Office, police raided their house and found fake letterheads of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and other ministers and also a fake seal of Government of India.The arrested are Arya Roshan alias Imtiaz (27) and Surya Roshan alias Imran (21),  residents of Sarakki in JP Nagar.

A senior police officer said that Surya and Arya had applied for passports in 2012 and had received an appointment. The officials in the passport office in Koramangala rejected their applications as the names and dates of birth they had provided in the application did not match with the documents they submitted.
In March, they applied for passports again and sent a fake recommendation letter bearing the forged signature of Sushma Swaraj. Police said the letter had the minister’s photo printed on the letterhead.

Police said the duo had mentioned in the letter that their family was close to Sushma Swaraj and hence the letter should be taken into consideration to issue the passports immediately. Officials at the passport office informed Koramangala police on realising the letter was a fake. On April 10, the brothers were asked to come to the Passport Office to collect their passports where police nabbed them.  Police are trying to find if the duo  submitted similar letters for other official purposes.

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