NEW DELHI: The CBI has arrested an absconding accused, who had submitted a forged letter of the then Joint Secretary of Prime Minister’s Office to secure admission into an engineering course at a Lucknow college.
“The accused, identified as Farhan Akhtar, a resident of Mau district of UP, was arrested from Hyderabad,” said a CBI officer.
Akhtar had submitted the forged letter of the then joint secretary at PMO - Sanjay Mitra - dated July 31, 2010, at Lucknow’s Integral University. The letter was addressed to then university Vice-chancellor S W Akhtar recommending Farhan’s admission in B Tech course. Suspecting the genuineness of the letter, the V-C got it verified from the PMO and found it to be forged.
Officer on Special Duty in the PMO, K L Dhingra, had filed a complaint with the CBI regarding this in April, 2011, following which the agency registered a case of cheating on October 7, 2011. “After probe, a chargesheet was filed on June 28, 2013, against Farhan under charges of cheating and forgery among others in the Court of Special Judicial Magistrate in Lucknow. A supplementary chargesheet was filed on March 7, 2014, against the said accused and another accused in the court,” stated a CBI spokesperson.
It has been proved that the letter purportedly issued by Sanjay Mitra is a fabricated document bearing his forged signature, said the chargesheet. Farhan was arrested on November 21 last year and released on bail after three days.
The spokesman said that in the event of non-appearance, the court issued an NBW against him. “The accused was produced before the Special Judicial Magistrate, CBI Cases, Lucknow and remanded to judicial custody,” he said.