Two Malayalis have been dismissed from the Border Security Force (BSF) after securing constable jobs using forged certificates claiming medals in national athletics events, exposing a suspected racket involved in manufacturing fake sports credentials in Kerala.
Vijay Krishna of Thrissur and Dani Jacob of Alappuzha were recruited under the sports quota last year using certificates claiming silver medals at the 61st National Senior Athletics Championships, allegedly held in Chennai in June 2024. They also submitted a purported letter from the Kerala Athletics Association secretary to authenticate their claims.
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The fraud came to light after BSF officials, who were suspicious of the documents submitted by the two constables posted to the force’s 25th Battalion in New Delhi, sought verification from athletics authorities. The inquiry found that the cited championship had not been held in 2024 and that neither man had competed in the Senior Athletics Championships held in Haryana in May that year. The association letter and signatures attributed to its secretary were also found to be forged.
The case has raised concerns about a wider racket allegedly supplying fake sports certificates to secure government jobs. Anju Bobby George, senior vice-president of the Athletics Federation of India (AFI), said the federation had received complaints from various departments about a Malayali gang involved in producing such certificates on a large scale.
Kerala Athletics Association secretary K Chandrasekharan Pillai said the fraudsters appeared to have tampered with certificates belonging to former medal winners by replacing their names. He added that a fake testimonial bearing his name and signature had also been identified and that legal action would be initiated.
