The CID has told a Bengaluru court that Rs 52 lakh allegedly collected from candidates in the Karnataka veterinary recruitment scam was used to buy gold and diamond jewellery for a friend of arrested IAS officer Gyanendra Kumar Gangwar, who served as the Karnataka Public Service Commission’s exam controller.
Public Prosecutor K L Bhagyalakshmi presented the findings on Thursday during a hearing of the bail plea filed by Basavaraj Kannale, whom the CID has identified as the alleged mastermind and middleman in the case. The investigation concerns the recruitment examination for 400 veterinary doctor posts, conducted on January 8 and 9 this year.
According to the CID, 11 aspirants transferred around Rs 70 lakh through RTGS to accounts indicated by Kannale. The funds were allegedly routed through accounts held by friends of the accused in cooperative banks in Karnataka’s Bidar region before being transferred to a gold showroom. The agency submitted account records and CCTV footage as part of its presentation before the court.
The CCTV footage allegedly shows Gangwar and his female friend purchasing gold jewellery worth Rs 21 lakh and gold and diamond jewellery worth Rs 23 lakh on separate occasions. The prosecutor told the court that the total jewellery purchases linked to the investigation amounted to Rs 52 lakh. CID sources also said around Rs 11 lakh was allegedly spent on air travel by Gangwar’s female friend, while some funds were withdrawn from an ATM in Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, where the IAS officer is from.
Some flight bookings were allegedly made through a travel agency operated by Kannale, the prosecutor said. The CID also presented evidence of the relationship between Kannale and Gangwar, including CCTV footage of Kannale visiting the IAS officer’s apartment and records of their phone calls.
The agency has seized 13 bank accounts linked to Kannale and frozen Rs 67 lakh in them. Kannale, who worked as an accountant at an agricultural banana market in Bengaluru for a monthly salary of Rs 20,000, allegedly expanded his wealth and business activities after associating with Gangwar. The two are said to have become acquainted around 2019, when Gangwar was the chief executive officer of Bidar, Kannale’s home district.
The CID alleges that Kannale approached 29 candidates among the 1,400 aspirants who appeared for the examination, offering access to the question papers. According to the investigation, 11 candidates paid between Rs 35 lakh and Rs 80 lakh and were allegedly given the papers before the examination. The CID has said that candidates were taken to a resort on Bengaluru’s outskirts, where they were confined to separate rooms, trained to answer the questions and transported to the examination venue.
The case began after a complaint by Dr S Manjunath, a veterinary doctor who was not selected. The FIR states that 29 candidates who had performed poorly in their college examinations scored more than 450 out of 500 in the entrance examination. The CID has also said that communications between those involved were conducted through encrypted channels and that the alleged question papers were provided in handwritten and printed formats.
Gangwar was arrested on August 29, while Kannale was arrested at Delhi airport on August 30. The CID opposed Kannale’s bail plea, saying he was allegedly preparing to travel to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan and held visas valid until November 13. The agency said his arrest followed information provided by Gangwar.
KPSC chairman Shivashankarappa S Sahukar, who has been suspended in a separate case involving the alleged illegal recruitment of his daughter as an industrial extension officer, is also being investigated in connection with the veterinary examination. The CID has alleged prima facie links between Sahukar, his family members and Kannale. Sahukar has not been arrested in this case, with the agency telling the court that he has cooperated with the investigation and appeared for questioning when summoned.
