Police halt investigation into engineering seat-blocking scam

CET-2025 admission gateway faces halt in investigation of alleged engineering seat-blocking scam due to political pressure.

The Common Entrance Test-2025 (CET-2025), which is the gateway for admission to professional courses, including engineering, will begin on April 15, 2025. However, the investigation into the alleged engineering seat-blocking scam that took place last year has now been halted without reaching a logical conclusion.

Sources have alleged that the police halted the investigation due to political pressure. Concerns have been raised that this may lead to similar illegalities recurring this year.

“We have filed a charge sheet against 11 people involved in the scam, detailing their modus operandi and intentions. The case is pending trial,” said a senior police officer who is part of the investigation.

“However, if the charge sheet is filed without investigating the engineering colleges involved in the scam and without gathering information about the financial transactions that took place, the accused may be easily acquitted,” said officials of the Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA).

By misusing the Internet Protocol (IP) addresses of candidates applying for government quota engineering seats in private colleges, some miscreants blocked more than 2,000 engineering seats during the 2024–25 academic year. In this regard, the KEA registered an FIR at the Malleshwaram police station on November 14, 2025.

The police arrested 10 people, including a contractual employee of the KEA, for their alleged involvement and recovered 13 mobile phones, three laptops, and several other documents, some of which were allegedly set on fire in an attempt to destroy evidence as soon as the scam came to light.

Subsequently, notices were sent to BMS College of Engineering, Akash Institute of Engineering and Technology, and New Horizon College of Engineering, which were named in the FIR as the alleged beneficiaries of the scam.