Former Director General of state Anti Corruption Bureau Umesh Kumar, who is currently heading Godavari Valley Authority, has been made accused No.4 in a forgery case by the state CID. T Sunil Reddy, SEZ consultant and accused No.1 in the case has turned approver and has been pardoned.

Sometime ago the CID had registered a criminal case against Sunil Reddy and others with regard to the forgery of the signature of Rajya Sabha MP M A Khan in a letter allegedly written by the MP to the Centre seeking a thorough probe into certain land deals involving DGP V Dinesh Reddy and his wife in the state and elsewhere in the country. The CID also claimed that in his confession note, Sunil Reddy had stated that he forged Khan's signature at the behest of senior IPS officer and then DG of ACB Umesh Kumar.

In response, Umesh alleged that his name was being unnecessarily dragged in the case, and filed a petition in the AP High Court seeking the transfer of the case from the CID to the CBI. In the meantime, Umesh was shifted out from ACB and posted to Godavari Valley Authority as its chairman, considered a loopline assignment. In its counter filed to Umesh’s petition in the high court, S V Ramana Murthy, CID's additional DG, stated that after the forgery case was registered against Sunil and others, the latter filed a petition in the criminal court on September 7 expressing his intention of becoming an approver in the case and seeking pardon. On October 10, the court passed orders making Sunil an approver in the case and was pardoned. The trial court then recorded the statement of Sunil Reddy. “based on the confession, affidavit and other evidence into consideration, the petitioner (Umesh Kumar) herein has been arrayed as accused (A4) and a memo was filed in the court on September 24 to this effect,” the CID’s counter states.

Further, the CID held that the documents shown by Umesh against Dinesh are not easily available on the website of the stamps and registration department as was claimed by Umesh. They were obtained using the influence of the office of the DG of ACB. The CID also contended in its counter that Umesh had purposely misled the court by claiming that he has no acquaintance with Sunil Reddy when in reality, the call records of Sunil Reddy’s phone show that several conversations had taken place between the two. The CID said because of this, Umesh could be charged with perjury.