In a significant development on Monday, the Bengaluru City Civil Court remanded Indian Administrative Services (IAS) officer Gyanendra Kumar Gangwar and Basavaraj Kannale to the custody of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) for a period of 10 days. This remand is linked to their suspected involvement in alleged irregularities concerning the recruitment of veterinary officers by the Karnataka Public Service Commission (KPSC).
The order, issued by Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate KP Manjunatha, was in response to the CID’s request for custody to facilitate further investigation into the matter. The probe centers on accusations of large-scale manipulation, including the alleged leakage of examination papers and tampering with Optical Mark Recognition (OMR) sheets used in the recruitment of 400 veterinary officer positions.
IAS officer Gangwar, who was apprehended by the CID on Saturday night, held the position of Controller of Examinations at KPSC during the recruitment period in question. The investigation agency claims to have discovered incriminating documents associated with the exam question papers during the arrest, which could potentially implicate Gangwar in the irregularities.
The CID’s investigation is also delving into suspected financial transactions tied to the alleged scam. This includes scrutiny of bank records, property holdings, and other assets that may be linked to the accused and others purportedly involved in the scheme. Complaints from examination candidates have surfaced, alleging that the exam papers were leaked to benefit select individuals while intermediaries purportedly demanded upwards of ₹70 lakh to ₹80 lakh from aspirants in exchange for guaranteed selection.
These serious allegations have cast a shadow over the credibility of the KPSC’s recruitment process. In addition to Gangwar, the CID also detained Basavaraj Kannale, a syndicate member of Tumkur University with affiliations to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), on the same day. His arrest took place in Delhi, according to unnamed sources.
Kannale is alleged to have served as a conduit between aspirants and influential figures involved in the purported manipulation of the recruitment process. Sources indicate that Kannale, after a stint in Delhi for UPSC coaching, cultivated connections with several political leaders upon his return to Bengaluru, which may have facilitated his involvement in the alleged wrongdoing.
