PSI Scam: School headmaster surrenders before CID  

KALABURAGI: Kashinath, the headmaster of Jnana Jyoti English Medium School in Kalaburagi, where the malpractices in the exam for the recruitment of Police Sub-Inspectors (PSIs) were reported, surrendered before the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) on Monday. Kashinath was on the run for over 20 days ever since the scam broke out. Kashinath is the second accused to surrender before the CID— the first being Manjunath Melkundi who surrendered on Sunday. 

The 3rd JMFC Court had issued arrest warrants against six persons,  including Divya Hagaragi, Manjunath Melakundi, Ravindra Melakundi, Kashinath, Archana and Shantabai. Divya and Archana were arrested by the CID in Pune on April 28. Ravindra Melakundi and Shantabai are still absconding. According to sources, Manjunath struck a deal with Kashinath to help the candidates in getting Jnana Jyoti School as the exam centre and also managed to get them good scores.

Secretary of Jnana Jyoti English Medium School Divya Hagaragi, who was also aware of the deal, was collecting the amount agreed upon from Kashinath. This is what even Divya has told the investigators when they quizzed her. “Kashinath used to deal with the mediators and he knew every detail,” Divya reportedly told the investigators. 

Meanwhile, CID sleuths arrested another accused Sridhar Pawar on Sunday evening. It is said that Sridhar is the person who exposed the scam in a huff.  Sources said that Sridhar helped in getting middlemen to Veeresh (the first person who was arrested) for getting help in PSI CET. He took the photo of the OMR sheet which was with Veeresh. 

He demanded more money from Veeresh to keep quiet. When Veeresh refused to pay, Sridhar shared the same OMR sheet on social media, which went viral and caught the attention of all. Eventually, the government was forced to order for a CID probe.