A criminal case has been filed against P. Muralidhar Rao, the Kerala in-charge of the BJP, and eight others for cheating and forgery in Hyderabad on Tuesday.
The victims, T. Praveen Reddy and wife Mahipal Reddy, claimed that they paid Rs 2.17 crore as bribe as they were promised the post of the chairman of Pharmaceutical Export Promotion Council.
They claimed that a letter was shown to them which allegedly had the signature of the Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. The incident allegedly took place during Sitharaman's tenure as the minister for Commerce and Industry.
As the couple did not get the promised post despite paying the bribe and waiting, they demanded the money back. They claim that Muralidhar Rao threatened them at this point.
The case was registered after direction by the court. Police booked the nine accused under Sections 406 (criminal breach of trust) 420 (cheating), 468, 471 (forgery), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and section 156 (3) of CrPC.
Meanwhile, Muralidhar Rao has said that he has nothing to do with the issue.
