The Special Enquiry Squad of the Central Crime Branch (CCB) has arrested 48 individuals, including three government employees, in connection with a scam related to the direct recruitment of second division assistants in the Water Resources Department (WRD). Among those arrested are 37 candidates who submitted fake documents and 11 middlemen involved in the scheme.
The recruitment drive was initiated in October 2022, with online applications invited to fill 182 backlog ‘C’ group posts. The middlemen were part of a network that created counterfeit Class 12 marks cards. Candidates who did not meet the eligibility criteria used these services to obtain fake marks cards reflecting good scores in all subjects.
Department officials filed a police complaint on July 28, 2023, after discovering that 62 ineligible candidates had applied for the positions using fraudulent Class 12 marks cards. The case was subsequently handed over to the Central Crime Branch for further investigation.
The three government employees arrested include Anand, the principal of Morarji Desai Residential PU College in Kalaburgi; Krishna Gurunath Rathod, a First Division Assistant at Karnataka Power Corporation Limited in Shivamogga; and Gangoor Pradeep, a Second Division Assistant in the Water Resources Department in Hassan. The 11 middlemen were arrested across several locations, including Hassan, Mandya, Jewargi, Vijayapura, KGF, Bengaluru, Shivamogga, and Tumakuru.
These middlemen reportedly produced counterfeit marks cards for II PUC, Class 12 of CBSE, and NIOS, submitting them online and effectively robbing genuine candidates of their opportunities.
In total, 62 candidates from 12 districts submitted fake marks cards, with 25 from Kalaburagi, 12 from Hassan, six from Belagavi, and others from Yadgir, Vijayapura, Bidar, Chitradurga, Ramanagara, Koppal, Kolar, Raichur, and Vijayanagar districts.
A police officer noted, “The search is ongoing for the remaining candidates, as only 37 have been arrested. We recovered 17 mobile phones, a computer hard disk, and other valuables worth Rs40 lakh.”
