Kottayam: The Vigilance and Anti-corruption Bureau (VACB) has received information that more officials are involved in the bribery case in which a woman employee of the Mahatma Gandhi University was arrested while accepting a bribe of Rs 15,000 for issuing an MBA certificate.
A telephonic conversation between the accused, University Assistant C J Elsy and a student who was forced to pay up, pointed at the involvement of more officials.
During the telephonic conversation, a woman, purportedly Elsy, was heard saying that "other staff of the MBA department, too, should be paid, and hence I am asking for Rs 1.5 lakh."
The employees, who had to be paid, too, were identified during the conversation.
It has been suspected that a cash-for-marks racket of employees has been active in the university.
The VACB formed a special team under DySP A K Vishwanathan and Inspector K Jayakumar to investigate the case, since the anti-graft body suspected that the University Assistant alone could not demand bribes or offer to alter the marklist without the help of other employees in the section concerned.
Police Superintendent V G Vinod said the team would commence the probe on Monday. They would inspect the files related to MBA examinations.
Elsy was caught red-handed while accepting Rs 15,000 as bribe from a Thiruvalla-based woman student to alter her marklist on Saturday. The student belonged to the 2014-16 MBA batch of Mangalam College in Ettumanoor.
It was also found that Rs 1.25 lakh had earlier been given to the employee for the same purpose.
The Vigilance Court in Thiruvananthapuram remanded Elsy for 14 days on Sunday.
Meanwhile, the Mahatma Gandhi University Syndicate has appointed a four-member committee to investigate the matter.
The Assistant Registrar and Section Officer of the MBA section who worked alongside Elsy have been transferred.
Elsy's appointment under scrutiny
Elsy had joined the university as a peon, but was promoted to the post of University Assistant in seven years. It has been suspected that the University followed the Kannur-model to fast-track her appointment.
The Vigilance would be checking the files related to Elsy's appointment. The woman, who had not passed Class 10, had earlier worked as a temporary last-grade employee in the university.
She is a CPM sympathiser and a member of a Left employees' union.
The CPM-controlled Syndicate had given permanent appointment to 150 people as peons, including Elsy, in 2009 when the LDF was in power. Later, the designation of peon was changed to office assistant.
The university had issued a notification for appointing peons on a permanent basis when Dr Jancy Joseph was the Registrar. Class VII was the basic educational qualification.
The LDF Syndicate which came to power later cancelled the notification and issued a fresh one with the condition that those who had cleared Class X exams should not apply. The written test was scrapped and appointments were made based on interviews alone. The changes helped in appointing those close to the party.
Elsy was 35 when she was appointed in 2010. A year after getting appointed, she took the equivalency test to clear the SSLC exam. Later, she passed Plus Two, and took a degree as a private student.
The university rules allow for appointing 4% of graduates in low-paid posts as assistants once they complete four years as peons. The MG University has 714 posts of assistants.
The varsity had set aside nine posts to promote graduates in low-paid posts. During that time, Kannur University promoted 4% of peons, and MG varsity followed suit, and set aside 4% of the 714 assistant posts for low-paid graduates. This move increased the promotion posts to 28 from the earlier nine, and several people, including Elsy, were promoted.
