The Bengaluru Police has registered a first information report against Infosys co-founder Kris Gopalakrishnan and 17 other faculty and administrative members of the Indian Institute of Science, based on allegations of caste-based discrimination, under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Prevention of Atrocities Act, The News Minute reported.

The case was filed on a complaint by a former faculty member, D Sanna Durgappa.

Durgappa alleged that the accused persons subjected him to casteist abuse and wrongfully dismissed him from his position at the institute’s Centre for Sustainable Technology in 2014 based on false claims of sexual harassment.

The FIR was registered on Monday at the Sadashivnagar Police Station.

Durgappa, who belongs to the Bovi community, a Scheduled Caste, claimed he faced discrimination after requesting funding for a separate laboratory and sitting area under the Scheduled Caste Sub-Plan and Tribal Sub-Plan.

In addition to Gopalakrishnan, those named in the FIR include Sridhar Warrier, Anil Kumar, Namrata Gundaih, Nirmala, Sandya Vishwanath, Dipshika Chakravarthy, Hari KVS, Dasappa, Govindan Rangarajan, Balachandra P, Hemala Mhishi, Anjali Karande, Chattopadhyaya K, Pradeep Sawkar, Abhilash Raju and Manoharan.

The complainant alleged that Indian Institute of Science director Balaram P, along with other members of the institute’s governing council, orchestrated a “honey trap” to have him removed from his post.

Durgappa said that a 2017 investigation by a Karnataka Assembly committee found no evidence of sexual harassment against him and concluded that he was targeted due to his Dalit identity. He added that while the institute had agreed to reinstate him based on the committee’s findings, it failed to do so, leaving him unemployed for over nine years.

None of the 18 people have responded to the allegations, PTI reported.

Also read: A Dalit scholar’s death and Brahmin dominance at India’s premier science institute