Nirmala Sitharaman's sign forged for fake job racket, FIR filed against BJP general secretary

P Muralidhar Rao, the national general secretary of the Bharatiya Janata Party, has been booked by the Hyderabad Police for involvement in a fake job racket and forging Nirmala Sitharaman's signature.

The Hyderabad Police have filed an FIR against eight people, including Rao, for promising government jobs to a couple in 2016. They took Rs 2.17 crore in exchange for giving the appointment, reports Deccan Chronicle. The complainant, Talla Pravarna Reddy, had approached the Rangareddy district court regarding the issue.

"Following the court orders, a case has been registered against the accused persons including Muralidhar Rao on the complaint of Pravarna Reddy that the accused have taken Rs 2.17 crore promising a nominated post," Saroornagar Inspector E Srinivas Reddy was quoted as saying by Scroll.

Eshwar Reddy, a person who claimed to be closely associated with the BJP in Telangana, had introduced Talla to Krishna Kishore, Muralidhar Rao's aide. The duo said that in exchange for money, they would make Talla's husband Mahipal Reddy the nominated chairman of Pharma Exil. The company is under the Union Ministry of Commerce and Industries. They then showed appointment papers which featured Nirmala Sitharaman's signature. She was then the Commerce minister.

The Reddys realised that they were played when Mahipal was not appointed as chairman. They demanded the money back but Murlidhar Rao refused, threatening them. Eshwar Reddy then promised to return the money but hasn't yet done so.

"In November 2015, Eshwar Reddy approached the complainant and her husband. Reddy told the complainant that he knows one person, Krishna Kishore, who is very close to BJP National General Secretary Muralidhar Rao. He said that Kishore can help anyone get nominated for a government job. However, the complainant couple was reluctant to acquire the nominated posts by spending huge amounts of money," the police was quoted as saying by ANI.

They went on o add, "Later, the accused, Eshwar Reddy again approached the complainant couple along with Kishore and Ramachandra Reddy and pressurized then to accept the proposal. The accused also produced an offer letter purportedly signed by Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. Following which, they took Rs 2.17 crore from the couple assuring the appointment of the complainant's husband as chairperson of Pharma Exil."

Muralidhar Rao denies involvement in the issue

In a tweet, the BJP general secretary said that he had no connection to the case. He added that the FIR against him was about a completely different matter.