KALABURAGI: A video clipping allegedly showing answers to multiple choice questions being dictated over mobile phone for exams said to be for junior engineers of PWD held in December last year has cast a shadow on the future of candidates who appeared for the exam. This comes at a time when the Crime Investigation Department (CID) is conducting a probe into allegations of malpractice in the police sub-inspector common entrance test.
Sources from the CID, which is conducting the investigation in Kalaburagi, did not confirm recovering any incriminating documents related to illegalities in the PWD JE exam. “If the government asks us to probe that matter too and if any documents are available during the raids or made available to us, we will probe that issue,” said the source. It is not known from where the video clipping has been released, but the answers seem to be for the PWD JE test question paper.
CID sources said that during raids on the residences of accused Mahantesh Patil and his brother RD Patil in Kalaburagi on Friday evening, they found hall tickets and OMR sheets of many candidates who appeared for CET of first division assistant, second division assistant and and hostel warden posts conducted by the Karnataka Public Service Commission over the last two years.
“We have to probe why the Patil brothers were collecting hall tickets and OMR sheets and whether they were involved in other scams too,” the source said. Mahantesh, who was the block Congress president at the time of arrest on Thursday, was produced before the court on Friday and remanded to police custody for a week.
Number of arrests now stands at 15
The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) also arrested RD Patil and his associate Mallikarjun Siddanna Melakunda from the outskirts of Pune on Saturday. They were brought to Kalaburagi on Sunday and were produced before the judge at his residence on Sunday.
They were remanded in police custody for 13 days. Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) spokesperson Priyank Kharge said Mahantesh resigned from Congress after his arrest. Meanwhile, CID sources said that though Mallikarjun was not involved in the scam, he helped his brother escape to Pune. With this, the number of the arrests in the case has gone up to 15.