NEW DELHI: The Enforcement Directorate on Wednesday alleged that IAS officer Gyanendra Kumar Gangwar, a former controller of examinations at the Karnataka Public Service Commission (KPSC), facilitated the leak of a veterinary officers’ recruitment examination paper to an alleged middleman a day before the test in exchange for illegal gratification.
The agency said its investigation found that candidates paid Rs 30–40 lakh for access to the leaked paper.
Gangwar, a 2016-batch IAS officer, was arrested by the ED on September 18 while in the custody of the Karnataka CID, which is investigating the same case. He is currently in ED custody.
The officer and his legal team could not be reached for comment on the allegations.
The ED’s money laundering case stems from multiple FIRs registered by the state police over alleged irregularities in the KPSC examination to recruit 400 veterinary officers.
The agency also arrested alleged middleman Basavaraj Kannale on September 17 while he was in judicial custody in the CID case.
In a statement, the ED said Gangwar was responsible for ensuring the fair and transparent conduct of KPSC recruitment examinations. His duties included finalising question papers, supervising their printing and maintaining custody of confidential examination material.
“Investigation revealed that Gyanendra Kumar Gangwar misused his official position and facilitated the leakage of the veterinary officers’ recruitment examination question paper containing the correct answers to Basavaraj Kannale, one day prior to the scheduled examination, in consideration of illegal gratification,” the agency alleged.
The ED claimed that some candidates were taken to a resort on the outskirts of Bengaluru, where they received the leaked question paper containing the correct answers. They were made to memorise the answers under the supervision of Kannale and his associates, it alleged.
The candidates were then transported to their examination centres in vehicles arranged by Kannale or his associates, the agency said.
According to the ED, the accused initially demanded Rs 80 lakh from each candidate but settled for Rs 30-40 lakh after negotiations.
Part of the amount was collected as an advance in cash and through banking channels. Blank signed cheques and promissory notes were obtained for the balance, the agency said, adding that these were seized during searches.
The ED alleged that money collected from candidates was used to buy gold jewellery, pay cash for air travel and fund other cash transactions.
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