In a significant breakthrough, the Malleswaram police in Bengaluru have arrested ten individuals involved in a major engineering seat-blocking scam. The scam, which defrauded eligible candidates, allowed private colleges to exploit government quota seats by blocking them and converting them into management quota seats. This manipulation led to candidates being deprived of affordable education and private colleges reaping higher fees from students who ranked lower in the merit list.
The Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA) filed a complaint on November 13, revealing that 52 candidates’ login credentials, including passwords and secret keys, were illegally accessed. The accused, including Sri Harsha, Prakash, Ravishankar, Puneet, Naushad, Alam, and a KEA employee, allegedly used this information to block seats in reputable engineering colleges such as BMS Engineering College, Akash Institute of Engineering, and New Horizon Engineering College.
According to the complaint, after the second round of the seat allotment process, government quota seats that were intentionally left vacant were converted into management quota seats. This manipulation allowed private colleges to charge higher fees from students who were lower in rank, ultimately benefiting the colleges financially at the expense of deserving students.
The investigation began when KEA officials noticed unauthorized logins in their seat allotment portal, which led them to track down the suspects using IP addresses. Police arrested four members of the syndicate at the Majestic bus station on November 28, with additional suspects apprehended later, including a KEA employee who shared candidate credentials.
The arrested individuals were part of an elaborate scheme where they used middlemen and operated from multiple locations, including lodges in various cities. In return for bribes of Rs2-3 lakh, the group facilitated the manipulation of the seat matrix, ensuring that private colleges benefited at the cost of eligible students.
Authorities recovered 13 mobile phones, three laptops (partially destroyed but recovered using forensic methods), and several incriminating documents that confirmed the scam’s wide reach. Investigations are still ongoing to identify more individuals involved in this unlawful operation.
As a result of this scam, many students, who should have been admitted to engineering colleges, had to settle for BSc programs instead. The police have vowed to continue their investigation to expose the full extent of the malpractice.