KEA staffer held in engg seat blocking scam
BENGALURU: Malleswaram police have arrested 10 people, including a contract worker with Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA), for their alleged involvement in the engineering seat blocking scam.
The scam benefited private colleges, while depriving eligible candidates of their rightful seats. The accused have been identified as BS Avinash, 36, the KEA contract staffer, TM Shreeharsha, 42, the kingpin, his close associate Purushottam, 24, Shashikumar, 34, SL Puneeth, 27, SC Ravishankar, 56, SR Prakash, 42, Dilshad Alam, 33, Naushad Alam, 42, and RG Tilak, 60.
Probe revealed that Avinash gathered information about the candidates, who did not attend counselling sessions, and stole their login credentials, including passwords and secret keys.
He passed these details to Shreeharsha, who ran a counselling centre in Dollars Colony. Using these details, the accused blocked seats by providing fake mobile numbers and email IDs. They later contacted private colleges and informed them about the blocked seats.
The accused deliberately blocked seats under the government quota. They made option entries and blocked these seats using fake credentials, ensuring they remained available until the final round of counselling.
When the seats were not claimed for admission, they were converted into management quota seats, which were sold for Rs 15-25 lakh each. The accused took a cut in the seat fee from the colleges, where they blocked the seats.
It was found that login credentials of 52 engineering candidates were illegally accessed. Information on vacant seats was shared with representatives of private colleges through middlemen.
“Using these credentials, the accused made unauthorised entries to block government quota seats in institutions such as BMS Engineering College, Akash Institute of Engineering, and New Horizon Engineering College,” according to a press release.
The fraud benefited private colleges and deprived eligible candidates of their rightful opportunities. The colleges charged higher fees from candidates with lower ranks for these seats. The scam occurred during admissions to UG engineering courses for the academic year 2024-25, police said.
The police said the accused destroyed evidence by burning them. The investigating team recovered 13 mobile phones, three laptops (partially burnt, but retrieved through forensic analysis), and several incriminating documents. The police registered a case under various Sections of BNS for cheating and criminal breach of trust, along with provisions of the IT Act, based on KEA’s complaint on November 13.