CCB Police uncover fake marksheet scam for SDA recruitment: 48 arrested

Bengaluru: The Central Crime Branch (CCB) police have arrested 48 individuals, including 37 candidates, involved in a massive scam where fake marksheets were created to secure Second Division Assistant (SDA) positions in the Water Resources Department.

Among those arrested are Anand, the principal of Morarji Desai Residential PU College in Kalaburagi; Krishna Gurunath Rathod, an SDA at Jog KPCL; Pradeep, a First Division Assistant in the Hassan Water Resources Department; and several intermediaries including T. Ravi from Hassan, Pradeep from Malavalli in Mandya district, Ningappa Naddumanmani from Jewargi, Mallikarjun Sopur from Sindgi in Vijayapura district, Mustafa from Kalaburagi, Suresh Kumar from KGF, Sharath from Bengaluru, and Muthuraj from Tumakuru.

The CCB police seized assets worth Rs 40 lakh, including two cars and 17 mobile phones, along with hard drives.

Police said that all the accused belonged to the middle class and had either failed or scored low marks in SSLC and PUC exams. In their desperation to secure government jobs, they resorted to this fraud by creating fake mark sheets.

The accused obtained these fake mark sheets through intermediaries by paying large sums of money. The forged documents displayed marks as high as 90% to 98%, which they used to apply online for 182 SDA backlog positions.  As many as 25 candidates are reported missing and are being searched by the police.

Background of the Case

In October 2022, the Water Resources Department invited online applications for 182 SDA backlog positions. During the verification process of the marksheets and other documents submitted by 62 candidates, it was discovered that these documents were fake.

The authorities filed a complaint with the Seshadripuram police station, which was later transferred to the CCB for further investigation. The CCB police arrested 37 candidates who had illegally submitted applications from 12 districts, including 25 from Kalaburagi, 12 from Hassan, 3 from Belagavi, and others from Kolar, Koppala, Vijayanagara, and Raichur. During their interrogation, 11 intermediaries were also identified and apprehended.

Caught During Document Verification

Unlike previous recruitments where documents were verified after issuing appointment letters, this time, the authorities conducted an offline verification of documents before proceeding with the appointments. This early scrutiny exposed the scam, revealing the true identity of the fraudulent candidates who were waiting for their appointment orders.