Thiruvananthapuram: Two Malayalis who secured jobs in the Border Security Force (BSF) using forged certificates as medal winners in national athletics events have been dismissed from service, exposing a racket involved in manufacturing fake sports certificates in Kerala.

Vijay Krishna of Thrissur and Dani Jacob of Alappuzha secured jobs as BSF constables under the sports quota last year using certificates claiming silver medals in different events at the 61st National Senior Athletics Championships, supposedly held in Chennai in June 2024. Along with the certificates, which bore forged signatures of Athletics Federation of India (AFI) office-bearers, the duo had also submitted a fake letter purportedly issued by the Kerala Athletics Association secretary to authenticate their claims.

The fraud came to light when BSF authorities, suspicious of the certificates submitted by the two men posted to the force’s 25th Battalion in New Delhi, sought verification from athletics officials. The inquiry revealed that the championship cited in the certificates had not been held in 2024 and that neither of them had competed in the Senior Athletics Championships held in Haryana in May that year. The letter and signature attributed to the Kerala Athletics Association secretary were also found to be forged.

The case, meanwhile, has raised concerns about a wider racket involved in supplying fake sports certificates to secure government jobs. Anju Bobby George, senior vice-president of the AFI, said the federation had already received complaints from various departments about a Malayali gang involved in manufacturing such certificates on a large scale.

“The fraudsters appear to have tampered with certificates issued to former medal winners by substituting their names. This came to light when we examined the documents sent by the BSF. We also found a fake testimonial bearing my name and signature. We will initiate legal action,” said K Chandrasekharan Pillai, secretary of the Kerala Athletics Association.