FIR registered against two in fake convocation certificate case at Krishnadevaraya University

BALLARI: The Sri Krishnadevaraya University here has finally woken up and now filed a case against two contract employees in connection with the convocation certificate scam case. An FIR has been registered at Ballari Rural police station against Mahanthesh Y (40) and Hanumesh Soodi (35), who were contract employees in the examination section.

The FIR was registered based on a complaint filed by VSK University’s Registrar (Evaluation) Prof N M Saali. Despite several months since the scam occurred, the university’s delay in taking action had raised several suspicions. Public TV had also aired a detailed report on this. Following the report, officials woke up and have now filed a complaint against the two.

Accused Mahanthesh had been working in the university’s examination section since 2012 and Hanumesh since 2022. They took money from students who came to collect convocation certificates and deposited it into their own accounts. It also came to light that they issued fake convocation certificates to some.

In February 2025, a student had paid a fee of Rs 8,500. The student complained to the university that he did not receive the convocation certificate. Following this, the convocation certificate scam was exposed. After complaints from students, it was discovered that the signatures of several officials, including the university’s VC, had been forged.

The university’s preliminary investigation revealed that the accused had used over Rs 4 lakh for personal use. Further, more than Rs 18 lakh had been credited to Mahanthesh’s account in the name of convocation certificates, and an investigation by a retired district judge exposed the distribution of 4,476 certificates during 2020 and 2022.

A case has been registered regarding the accused misusing the university’s computer system, records, and officials’ signatures to distribute fake certificates. Meanwhile, the fact that the university has filed a case against only two people has given rise to several doubts. This is because there was strong suspicion about the role of some university officials in this case. But no case has been filed against any of them.