Maha minister's PA approaches cops over 'fake' audio clip

Police in Beed district of Maharashtra have registered a case against unidentified persons for mimicking the voice of the personal assistant of a minister, and creating a fake audio clip about payment of bribe.
Pradip Kulkarni, personal assistant to Maharashtra Rural Development Minister Pankaja Munde, yesterday lodged a complaint in this regard at the Parli police station, a senior police official told PTI.
The minister herself had stated in the Maharashtra Legislative Council yesterday that her PA had alerted her about circulation of a fake audio clip targeting him.
Kulkarni, resident of Parli, lodged the complaint yesterday, Beed Superintendent of Police G Sridhar told PTI.

Kulkarni told police that a fake audio clip of a cell phone conversation about payment of bribe for a government work was making rounds on WhatsApp, and it slandered him.
In the clip, a person, one "Rathod from Yavatmal", is heard telling somebody that he had sent him Rs 50 lakh, but the latter should consider reducing the "percentage".

The other person in the clip mimicked Kulkarni's voice to make it appear that it was the minister's PA who was part of the conversation, as per the complaint, the SP said.
Police registered a case under IPC sections 469 (forgery for the purpose of harming reputation), 500 (defamation) and also the Information Technology Act, 2000, he said.

"We will send the audio clip to the forensic science laboratory for voice sample testing," the SP said.
Speaking in the Council yesterday, Pankaja Munde had said, "My PA, Pradip Kulkarni called me this morning and informed me about a fake audio clip involving him. He has already approached the police."
The BJP minister was responding after Leader of Opposition and her estranged cousin Dhananjay Munde (NCP) handed over an audio CD to the Council chairman, saying it had a conversation involving the PA of the "rural development minister".