Bengaluru, Aug 18: The Enforcement Directorate on Tuesday raided the premises of the Karnataka Public Service Commission (KPSC), its suspended Chairman Shivashankarappa S Sahukar, member Shanta Hosmani and some others as part of a money laundering investigation into a veterinary officers recruitment exam ‘scam’ case, officials said.
They said that about 21 premises in the state and in Gujarat are being searched.
The action was launched after the federal probe agency booked a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) into these alleged irregularities, the officials added.
The search premises include the KPSC office in Bengaluru, the residence of suspended KPSC Chairman Shivashankarappa S Sahukar, KPSC Member Shanta Hosmani, some alleged middlemen, the office premises of a company called Edutest Solutions (entity responsible for digital evaluation of exam papers), and the candidates who were selected for the post of veterinary officers.
These 21 premises are spread across Karnataka in Bengaluru, Hassan, Chitradurga, Davangere, Raichur, Karwar, Kalaburgi, Belagavi, and Belgaum, apart from some in Gujarat’s Ahmedabad, the officials said.
ED officials said the agency took cognisance of four FIRs registered by the Bengaluru Police (Vidhan Soudha police station) alleging irregularities in the final selection of veterinary officers.
It is alleged that some middlemen called the candidates, including the complainant, and demanded bribes ranging from Rs 70 to Rs 80 lakh (per candidate) for selection.
The complainant in the case submitted audio recordings of these middlemen to the police, the officials said.
Additionally, the ED probe is looking into allegations of paper leak, OMR answer sheet tampering and facilitation in final selection of the relatives of the KPSC officials, they said.
In July, Karnataka Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot suspended Sahukar on charges of facilitating the illegal selection of his two daughters as Industrial Extension Officers. (PTI)
