Two men, who produced a fake certificate of introduction from External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj for getting passports, have been nabbed by the Bengaluru city police.
The arrest led to the discovery of letterheads of many Union Ministers and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in their possession.
According to the police, brothers Surya Roshan (21) and Arya Roshan (27), produced a letter from the office of Ms. Swaraj, purportedly issued by the Minister's personal assistant Satish Chander Gupta, addressed to the Regional Passport Officer. Written on the Minister’s official letterhead, it was submitted along with other documents required for the application.
Suspicion aroused
However, officials became suspicious as they had not seen a letter of recommendation from Ms Swaraj’s office earlier. An enquiry revealed that her office had not issued any such letter. The brothers were summoned to the Passport Office for an enquiry a few days ago and a complaint was filed with the police.
When the police raided their house, they found that the brothers had amassed fake letterheads of the Prime Minister, many Ministers, including Arun Jaitley, as well as ‘official-looking’ letters from the Central Vigilance Commission and the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
Jaitley’s ‘visiting card’
“They managed to download them from the Internet. They were even planning to print the visiting cards of Mr. Jaitley,” said R.M. Ajay, Inspector, Koramangala Police Station.
Surya Roshan, a school dropout, has completed a course in web designing, while his brother, also a school dropout, has acted in a few Kannada television serials and movies. Both stay with their foster mother in Koramangala, the police said. The two were arrested and booked under various sections of the Indian Penal Code on Saturday.
In 2012, their passport application was rejected as they had changed their names and did not have the required documentation. They were hoping that the passport officials would fall for the fake letter.
