PSI recruitment scam: CID exposes Karnataka police-politicians nexus, aims to nab kingpin

PSI recruitment scam in Karnataka: CID sleuths have arrested a few leaders from BJP and Congress in relation to the on-going case.

Pic Credit: IANS File Photo

Bengaluru: The investigation into the Police Sub-Inspector (PSI) scandal by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has exposed the nexus between the politicians and the Karnataka Police Department.

The CID sleuths have intensified the interrogation of four officers attached to the Recruitment division of the Police Department, who have been arrested. The accused police officers played conduit between the candidates and the senior police officers backed by the politicians, sources said.

Investigations have shown that the three accused were in-charge of the strong room where the answer sheets were kept. Sources have revealed that the accused forged the answer papers during the nights. Insiders in the department vouch that it is impossible for the lower cadre officers to commit such a crime without the backing of top police officers.

Some leaders from the ruling BJP and the Opposition Congress have been arrested by the CID causing a major embarrassment to both parties. The CID officers are now focusing on the kingpins behind the scandal.

The mobiles and digital material belonging to the officers have been seized and the probe has already begun regarding the accused officers links to senior police officers and politicians. Sources in CID said that they are confident of eliciting crucial information in this regard.

The CID is also collecting information on the officers who have been serving for 10 years in the Recruitment Division. The officers said that the accused persons have been collecting Rs 35 lakh to Rs 40 lakh from the aspiring candidates.

The CID has lodged a complaint against 22 candidates for joining hands with the accused in High Grounds police station and has arrested 16 of them. The officers have launched a hunt for the other six candidates who are at large.

The Karnataka government announced re-exams for the 545 PSI posts following the scandal. The exams were held for these posts on October 3, 2021. The government has also ordered comprehensive analysis of the answer sheets of all the candidates.

As many as 54,041 candidates appeared for the exam. The results were announced this January.

Later, the allegations surfaced that candidates who gave very poor performance in descriptive writing got maximum marks in Paper 2. However, the police department and the Home Minister denied any irregularities in the exam.

One of the candidates filed an RTI application seeking information on OMR sheets of one of the candidates. Though the application was rejected, the OMR sheet of the candidate appeared in public domain. Police sources say that Veeresh, the candidate, had attended only 21 questions in paper 2 but got 100 marks. He was given 7th rank.

Congress MLA Priyank Kharge had alleged that more than 300 of the 545 candidates had paid Rs 70 lakh - 80 lakh bribe to officials and ministers to become PSI. The ruling BJP has challenged him to produce evidence before CID.