Suryapet Private Bank Manager Arrested for Forging Collector's Signature

A private bank branch manager in Suryapet was arrested and remanded to judicial custody after allegedly forging the signature of Suryapet District Collector Tejas Nandlal Pawar on official banking documents related to the District Mineral Foundation Trust (DMFT).

The accused, identified as Koduru Raghu, serves as the Suryapet branch manager of the private bank. Chivemula police registered a criminal case and took him into custody following a formal complaint lodged by the district collector.

According to the complaint, the DMFT account requires joint signatures from the district collector and the district rural development officer (DRDO) for any transaction or mandate update. The issue arose when former DRDO D Shirisha was transferred, making it necessary to update bank records to replace her name with the newly appointed DRDO, Rayapalli Sanyasaiah. Banking documents for updating the authorised signatory were prepared on August 4, requiring the signatures of both Pawar and Sanyasaiah.

The alleged forgery came to light on August 14 when DMFT section accountant K Gopi Reddy noticed irregularities in the signature attributed to the collector and alerted authorities.

Subsequent inquiries revealed that Raghu had visited the collectorate to obtain the official seal on the paperwork. When staff members questioned the authenticity of the signature, Raghu falsely claimed it was genuine and convinced them to affix the official seal, according to Chivemula sub-inspector V Maheshwar.

Pawar personally examined the documents and determined that his signature had been forged. An internal inquiry also confirmed that the collector's signature was absent when Sanyasaiah signed the form.

Chivemula police registered a case against Raghu under sections 318(4) for cheating, 336(3) for forgery for the purpose of cheating, 338 for forgery of valuable security, and 340(2) for using a forged document as genuine under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.

Raghu was arrested and remanded in judicial custody on August 16. Police said they plan to seek his remand to determine the motive behind the forgery.