SIT takes former chairman into custody

Bengaluru: The investigation into the alleged Karnataka Public Service Commission (KPSC) veterinary officers recruitment scam has intensified, with the Special Investigation Team (SIT) taking suspended former KPSC chairman Sahukar Shivashankarappa into custody for questioning.

The Bengaluru 1st ACMM court has granted the SIT seven days of police custody, allowing investigators to interrogate him until November 19. The court approved the request submitted by the team headed by ADGP R. Hithendra. Shivashankarappa was already in judicial custody following his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with the case.

The alleged irregularities relate to recruitment for 400 veterinary officer posts in the Animal Husbandry Department. The examination was conducted on January 8 and 9, 2026, with around 1,400 candidates appearing. A total of 329 candidates were eventually selected.

The controversy surfaced after unsuccessful candidate Dr S. Manjunath filed a complaint on July 24, questioning how some candidates who were expected to score poorly had secured more than 450 marks. The subsequent investigation reportedly uncovered allegations of question-paper leakage, advance access to answers and payments made by candidates.

Investigators suspect that former KPSC examination controller and IAS officer Gnanendra Kumar Gangwar supplied the question paper and answers to intermediary Basavaraj Kannale a day before the examination. Kannale and his associates allegedly passed the material to candidates who paid money.

The ED investigation has also pointed to candidates being accommodated at resorts and private villas near Devanahalli, where they were allegedly coached to memorise the answers. They were reportedly transported to examination centres on the day of the test.

According to the ED, as much as Rs 80 lakh was initially demanded from candidates, with negotiations allegedly resulting in payments of Rs 30 lakh to Rs 40 lakh from some of them. The money was reportedly routed through cash transactions, bank transfers and purchases of gold jewellery. Investigators have also found allegations that signed blank cheques and promissory notes were collected from certain candidates.

A comparison of the answer keys released by KPSC has provided another lead. The ED has reportedly found unusual similarities in the responses of some candidates. Six candidates are said to have correctly answered the first 80 questions according to the initial answer key. A statistical analysis conducted by the CID also reportedly found 99.9 per cent similarity in the answers of 14 high-ranking candidates.

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The Hans India