KPSC recruitment scam: K’taka court asks ED to produce Shivashankarappa, Geetha by noon
Bengaluru, Oct 7 (IANS) A Bengaluru court has remanded suspended Karnataka Public Service Commission (KPSC) Chairman Sahukar Shivashankarappa and Karnataka Public Service Commission (KPSC) member Geetha to the custody of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) till Wednesday noon and also directed the agency to produce them before the open court by 3 p.m.
The two accused were arrested by ED sleuths around midnight in connection with the alleged KPSC recruitment scam and were produced before the magistrate at around 2 a.m. The ED sought their custody for 14 days. During the proceedings, the judge directed the ED to produce the accused in an open court.
Bengaluru Fourth CCH Judge Manjunath granted the ED custody of Shivashankarappa and Geetha and directed that they be produced before the court again.
The arrests came after the ED’s custody of BJP leader Basavaraj Kannale and IAS officer Gyanendra Kumar ended. Both were produced before the court and subsequently remanded to judicial custody. Following this, the ED arrested Shivashankarappa and Geetha in connection with the case.
Meanwhile, more than eight candidates linked to the alleged recruitment scam are likely to be treated as witnesses in the case. Their statements are expected to be recorded before the court under Section 164 of the Criminal Procedure Code.
The candidates have reportedly expressed their willingness to become witnesses and disclose details of the alleged recruitment irregularities, including those who were allegedly paid money, how the question paper was leaked and how they were allegedly trained at a resort before being dropped near the examination centre.
More than eight candidates have reportedly confessed before the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and provided details of the alleged payment of money, question paper leakage and the arrangements made for them during the recruitment process.
The ED is investigating alleged financial transactions and the role of officials and other persons in the recruitment scam.
It can be noted that the alleged KPSC recruitment scam involves irregularities in the selection process, including allegations of question paper leakage, payment of money and preferential treatment to candidates.
The investigation revealed that bribes ranged from Rs 30 to Rs 80 lakh. Thirteen recent recruitment drives are under the ED scanner, and veterinary officer recruitments face major corruption charges.
The probe further revealed that middlemen targeted competitive government job aspirants. Marks were deliberately hidden from public lists, and OMR sheets were altered to pass corrupt candidates.
ED launched a parallel money laundering probe. The High Court formed a Special Investigation Team, and DGP Alok Kumar leads the 5-member SIT.
–IANS
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