The Bengaluru police have booked five government employees, including a police constable, for submitting fake caste certificates in order to procure jobs.
Several complaints were filed against the five accused with the Directorate of Civil Rights Enforcement (DCRE) earlier this year. An internal investigation allegedly revealed that the five employees had submitted fake certificates while joining the service, the Deccan Herald reported.
An employee named Selvaraj filed a complaint with the DCRE stating that Kokila (50), an employee of Indian Telephone Industries, belongs to the Mudaliar community, but had allegedly submitted a fake caste certificate stating that she was from the Adi Dravida community, which falls under the SC category.
The Bengaluru district social welfare officer had filed a complaint with the DCRE that another ITI employee Babu, who allegedly belongs to the Naidu community, had submitted a fake caste certificate that he belongs to the Adi Dravida community. Babu has been working as a driver in the ITI factory, the Hindu reported.
Inspector of Vidhana Soudha Police Station, Pradeep Kumar complained to the DCRE that constable Yoganath, attached to the same station, allegedly submitted a fake caste certificate, which stated that he belongs to the Kaniyan community. This falls under the ST category.
A senior accountant with the Accountant General’s Office, Gouri Shankar filed a complaint alleging that his colleague Puttamma, too, had faked the caste certificate. Venkatesh D, an employee of the Institute of Wood Science and Technology in Malleswaram had allegedly submitted a caste certificate stating that he belongs to the Bhovi community, whilst he allegedly belonged to the Vokkaliga community, the DH report adds.
Media reports say that Inspector of DCRE, Narasimhaiah, filed a complaint with the Halasuru Gate Police Station, stating that these five employees had submitted fake caste certificates while joining the service and had prevented eligible candidates, who need jobs under the SC/ST quota from getting government jobs.
The Halasuru Gate police have booked the five accused under the sections 420 (cheating), 198 (using as true a certificate known to be false) and 196 (using evidence known to be false) of the Indian Penal Code and the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Bill, 2014.