Chikkamagaluru: More than 13,600 vehicles were allegedly issued fitness certificates (FCs) without any physical inspection at Chikkamagaluru Regional Transport Office (RTO).An FIR has been registered against motor vehicle inspector Jagadish for allegedly renewing fitness certificates by violating norms between 2023 and 2025.The case was registered at Chikkamagaluru town police station based on a complaint filed by regional transport officer (in-charge) Rakesh Kumar. The inspector is charged under sections 336(2), 336(3) and 340(2) of the BNS for forgery, cheating and criminal breach of trust, police said.According to the complaint, Jagadish, who was posted as motor vehicle inspector at Chikkamagaluru RTO from April 1, 2023, to July 5, 2025, allegedly issued FCs to vehicles registered in other states, including Goa, Maharashtra, Haryana and Punjab, without bringing them for inspection to Chikkamagaluru.Rakesh told TOI that the inspector was suspended. Earlier too, an FIR was registered against him, he added.A fitness certificate is mandatory for vehicles to ply on roads and is issued only after a thorough physical inspection of the vehicle’s roadworthiness. Issuing it without inspection poses a serious threat to road safety, officials said.The complaint states that vehicles and buses registered in various RTOs across Karnataka were also given fitness renewals without physical verification. “It is alleged that FCs were issued even though vehicles were never produced for inspection. This amounts to misuse of official power,” a police officer said, quoting the complaint.What has raised further suspicion is the volume of certificates issued in a short span. The probe by the cops has found that more than 4,000 out-of-state vehicles were issued FCs in just two days using a single login ID. Police said they are examining the Vahan portal logs, login details and FC issuance records to ascertain the full scale of the scam and to find if there was a larger network involved.
