Bengaluru, Oct 8 (IANS) The Enforcement Directorate (ED), which is investigating the sensational Karnataka Public Service Commission (KPSC) recruitment scam, has revealed that suspended KPSC Chairman Sahukar Shivashankarappa, KPSC Member B.V. Geetha and IAS officer Gyanendra Kumar Gangwar, all of whom were arrested by the ED, allegedly operated as a gang in connection with the recruitment scam involving 400 veterinary officer posts.
It can be noted that Shivashankarappa and Geetha are still being questioned by the ED. IAS officer Gyanendra Kumar and BJP leader Basavaraj Kannale have been remanded to judicial custody.
The ED in its official statement released on Thursday, stated, “Investigation and evidence gathered so far have revealed an organised mechanism for generation of proceeds of crime through manipulation of the KPSC recruitment process, particularly the Veterinary Officers Recruitment Examination. Based on the evidence, the Members of the KPSC and KPSC officials have resorted to the following modus operandi to extort money from the KPSC recruitment exam candidates, such as, leakage of question papers, leakage of candidate specific answer keys and exploitation of the 1:3 merit list for demanding gratification.”
ED, Bengaluru has arrested Shivashankarappa Sahukar, the suspended KPSC Chairman and B.V. Geetha, KPSC Member while investigating the multi crore cash-for-selection racket and Proceeds of Crime tied to the KPSC Veterinary Officers’ Recruitment Examination (for 400 posts), acting on FIRs filed at Vidhana Soudha PS under BNS 2023, as custodial interrogations expose deep rooted malpractices, paper leaks, and systemic corruption in KPSC.
Directorate of Enforcement, Bengaluru Zonal Office, is investigating irregularities in the conduct of the Veterinary Officers’ Recruitment Examination conducted by Karnataka Public Service Commission (KPSC) for 400 posts, and the proceeds of crime arising therefrom, based on multiple FIRs registered at Vidhana Soudha Police station, Bengaluru, for offences punishable under Sections 318 (3), 318 (4), 336 (3) and 340 (2) of the BNS, 2023.
Further investigation revealed that certain candidates in the Veterinary Officers’ exam were provided the correct answer keys just before the exam, i.e. on January 8, 2026, for a bribe ranging from Rs 20 lakh to Rs 40 lakh per candidate.
The leaked answer keys were provided to certain candidates by Shivashankarappa Sahukar, the suspended KPSC Chairman and B.V. Geetha, KPSC Member, for illegal gratification.
It is further revealed that Geetha had obtained access to the leaked Answer keys from Gyanendra Kumar Gangwar, IAS, the then Controller of Examinations (CoE), KPSC, who was entrusted with the custody and supervision of confidential examination material.
Based on the seating arrangements of the candidates and by accessing the jumbled Question papers and Answer keys, the CoE provided the correct answer keys for the first 80 questions to Geetha. Geetha collected Rs 20 lakh in cash as advance from one such candidate, out of the total agreed amount of Rs 40 lakh.
Similarly, Shivashankarappa Sahukar collected Rs 10 lakh in cash as an advance from one candidate, out of the total agreed bribe amount of Rs 20 lakh. So far, six such candidates have been identified who have secured higher scores in the final selection list, and further investigation is in progress to identify the complete list of such candidates.
Based on the above findings and on the basis of the material collected during investigation, a Search under Section 17 was conducted at the premises of the Shivashankarappa and Geetha on October 6. Further, based on the reasons to believe recorded under Section 19 of the PMLA, Shivashankarappa, the suspended KPSC Chairman and Geetha, KPSC Member, were arrested on October 6 for their involvement in generating, collecting, and handling proceeds of crime arising from the aforesaid scheduled criminal activity, the ED stated.
–IANS
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