ED arrests four KPSC officials over alleged leak of veterinary officer recruitment exam paper

A major irregularity has surfaced in the Karnataka Public Service Commission (KPSC) recruitment examination for veterinary officers. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) alleges that some candidates who sat the exam were given answers to the questions just a day before it. The agency suspects that bribes running into lakhs of rupees were taken from the candidates in return.

According to the investigating agency, candidates were taken to a resort on the outskirts of Bengaluru. There they were given the question paper and the correct options and told to memorise everything. The exam for 400 veterinary officer posts was held on January 8 and 9. The ED's investigation has identified 10 successful candidates who were allegedly given the leaked exam material.

The agency alleges that Rs 40 lakh to Rs 50 lakh was taken from each candidate for the arrangement. The money was collected in the name of getting them through the exam and ensuring selection. The ED also said that 6 candidates were given an answer key prepared specially for them shortly before the exam. They are alleged to have paid bribes of Rs 20 lakh to Rs 40 lakh for it.

The investigation has named Gyanendra Kumar Gangwar, the then KPSC controller of examinations and an IAS officer. The agency alleges that confidential exam material was in his possession and that he leaked the question paper through his associate Basavaraj Kannale. According to the ED, Kannale was involved in contacting candidates and collecting money from them. He is alleged to have collected Rs 40 lakh to Rs 50 lakh from each candidate in return for getting them selected. The ED has arrested both Gangwar and Kannale. Gangwar was taken into custody on September 18, and Kannale a day earlier.

KPSC's suspended chairman Shivashankarappa Sahukar and commission member B. V. Geetha have also been arrested in the case. The agency alleges that Geetha obtained the leaked answer key from Gangwar and took Rs 20 lakh as an advance out of a Rs 40 lakh bribe from one candidate. Sahukar is alleged to have taken Rs 10 lakh as an advance out of a Rs 20 lakh bribe from one candidate. The ED had raided the premises of the former chairman and the member on October 6, after which both were arrested.

During the investigation, the ED recovered blank signed cheques worth Rs 80 lakh and blank signed promissory notes from one successful candidate. The agency said these documents are extremely important to the probe into the alleged bribery transactions. It clarified that the investigation is being conducted on the basis of an FIR registered by the Karnataka Police in the veterinary officer recruitment case.