Bokaro artiste arrested for forging PM’s sign

NEW DELHI: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Friday arrested a Bokaro artiste who was accused of forging prime minister Narendra Modi’s signature and letterhead to promote himself.

Pandit Swaraj Kumar Roy had inadvertently alerted the PMO about his fraud that led to its detection, according to a CBI source.

The agency registered a case against him on Tuesday, carrying out searches in Bokaro Steel City, Jharkhand and Bishnupur, West Bengal that yielded from the premises of the accused a large number of incriminating forged documents and articles relating to forgery of the signatures of the prime minister.

The agency subsequently arrested him on Friday.

“The CBI has arrested the artiste Pandit Swaraj Kumar Roy and his associate SK Barman and they are being questioned to establish their exact motive,” said the source.

Roy had apparently fabricated the signature and the letterhead to convey that he had been purportedly invited to perform classical music at the forthcoming Independence Day celebrations in New Delhi, said the source.

After fabricating the prime minister’s signature, the accused sent the fake invitation card in his name to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO). However, the PMO, suspecting foul play, promptly referred the matter to the CBI.

“It could be that he sent the fabricated invitation to the PMO to raise his profile,” said the source.