The Andhra Pradesh CID has arrested five people for allegedly using the digital signatures of senior officials posted in the Chief Minister Office’s (CMO) to forge Chief Minister Petitions (CMP) and relay them to various departments to earn money illegally. The CID took Kanamarla Srinu, Gutthula Sitaramayya, Nalajala Sai Ram, Bhukya Chaitanya Naik and Abdul Razzak into custody, police said on Saturday.

“For some time, the digital signatures of CMO officials have been used to generate CMPs. Based on a complaint from the CMO officials, we have registered a case,” said a CID official in a press release. Incidentally, the accused persons were using the e-office login username and password of CMO secretaries to create CMPs by using requests of MLAs and MPs without the authorisation of the officials concerned and sending them across to various departments for implementation. Police identified Srinu to be the prime accused in this case who used to work in officer Revu Muthyala Raju’s office as a junior employee.