Officials at the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) were left stunned by a brazen attempt to defraud them. An individual, falsely claiming to be a staff member from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), tried to procure the highly coveted ‘Suprabhatham’ darshan tickets for the revered Sri Venkateswara temple in Tirumala.
The imposter, who introduced himself as ‘Dr. P. Rama Rao’ and a Deputy Secretary in the PMO’s South Block, New Delhi, sent a letter to then-Executive Officer J. Syamala Rao. Dated May 1, the letter explicitly requested ten ‘Suprabhatham’ tickets and three air-conditioned rooms for an alleged visit to Tirumala on May 10.
However, the TTD authorities grew suspicious. Their subsequent inquiry with the PMO confirmed their fears: no such individual was, or had ever been, employed by the Prime Minister’s esteemed office.
Recognizing the gravity of the impersonation, A.K. Sharma, an Assistant Director at the PMO, promptly filed a formal complaint with the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The complaint urged swift action against the ‘self-styled PMO official’ for his deceptive conduct.
Consequently, the CBI initiated a case, registering FIR Number RC 0482025 S 0009 on October 2 against Rama Rao. He faces charges under Sections 318(4), 319(2), 336(3), and 340(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) for cheating and personation, in addition to Section 66D of the Information Technology Act for using a computer source for deceit. Details of this FIR were made available to The Hindu.
Intriguingly, this wasn’t Rama Rao’s first foray into deception. Records indicate he previously impersonated ‘C. Sridhar,’ a Joint Secretary to the PM, to gain admission to a university in Pune. He also reportedly misled the Mysuru Tahsildar to access sensitive land documents.