KALABURAGI: In a surprise development, a magistrate court on Tuesday served arrest warrants on six accused, including prime accused Divya Hagargi, in the PSI CET scam. Top sources in the CID told TNIE on condition of anonymity, that FIRs had been filed against the six accused in the court a few days ago.The CID pleaded in court on Tuesday to issue arrest warrants against Divya Hagaragi, Manjunath Melakundi, Ravindra Melakundi, Archana, Kashinath and Shantabai, which would enable the investigating agencies to arrest the accused, who were absconding for over 10 days. The accused may tamper with evidence if they were allowed to remain free, the CID argued.
Taking cognizance of the seriousness of the case, the court issued arrest warrants against the six accused. If the accused continue to hide even after arrest warrants are issued by court, the investigating agency can appeal to accord permission to attach the property of the accused, it said. Armed with the arrest warrants, the CID has intensified its search operation and formed six teams to trace the accused. Meanwhile, the CID will submit its objections against the anticipatory bail applications of the accused, before the 1st Additional District and Sessions Court on Wednesday.
In another development, sleuths arrested an accused, Sunil Kumar, when he was summoned for verification of the OMR sheet at the Bengaluru CID office on Monday. Sunil Kumar was brought to Kalaburagi for interrogation on Tuesday. Sources in the CET said Sunil Kumar appeared for the PSI CET at Jnana Ganga English Medium School in October last year. R D Patil, who was arrested on Saturday and is in police custody for 13 days, reportedly told the investigating agency that he had helped Sunil Kumar write answers in the OMR sheet using Bluetooth. Sunil Kumar is yet to be produced before court. The CID will request the court to remand the accused in police custody. With the arrest of Sunil Kumar, the number of arrests has gone up to 15.
DGP (CID) P S Sandhu, who visited Kalaburagi on Monday, returned to Bengaluru on Tuesday. Sources said investigation will pick up speed with the CID taking up verification of OMR sheets and statements of all 545 candidates who were selected in the exams. The CID may extend its activities to other parts of the State too.