BENGALURU: The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) on Saturday arrested IAS officer Gyanendra Kumar Gangwar and a middleman, Basavaraj Kannale, in connection with the Karnataka Public Service Commission (KPSC) veterinary officer recruitment scam. A court on Sunday remanded him to 14-day judicial custody.
Gangwar, a 2016-batch Karnataka-cadre IAS officer from Uttar Pradesh, is currently posted as director, Department of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises under the state commerce and industries ministry.
He served as the controller of examinations at the KPSC from 2024 to March 2026, when the alleged scam occurred.
The police said the arrest was made after Gangwar failed to provide satisfactory answers to sustained questioning by the CID for two days. The preliminary probe revealed Gangwar’s alleged role in the irregularities and manipulation of OMR sheets.
Meanwhile, the CID sent 329 OMR sheets of candidates who appeared for the examination to the State Forensic Science Laboratory for examination.
The sleuths produced Gangwar before the 1st Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (ACMM) at the judge’s residence in Koramangala on Sunday. He was remanded to 14-day judicial custody.
CID grilled former KPSC chairman too
The CID has also questioned former KPSC chairman Shivashankarappa S Sahukar and the candidates who secured high ranks in the recruitment examination.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED), which is also probing alleged irregularities in the KPSC recruitment scam, earlier raided Gangwar’s residences in Bengaluru and Uttar Pradesh. But the IAS officer was not present at both houses during the raids.
The scam came to light after an audio clip surfaced in which alleged middlemen were heard demanding Rs 80 lakh per post from candidates. They allegedly asked the candidates to pay Rs 40 lakh in advance and the remaining after their appointment.
Later, a candidate filed a complaint with the Vidhana Soudha police, alleging paper leaks, OMR sheet tampering, leakage of candidates’ personal information and large-scale manipulation in the recruitment process. The case was later referred to the CID.