After the transfer of Amrit Paul who headed the Police Recruitment Cell, the State police transferred out Dy.SP P. Shanta Kumar from the cell on Tuesday. Both officers have been transferred to the Internal Security Division (ISD).
Mr. Shanta Kumar has had a long tenure at the recruitment cell over the past 12 years with brief interludes when he was transferred out. However, he used to return to the cell, where he joined as an inspector and was promoted as a DySP, sources said.
The Police Department has been abuzz as to why the CID probe had not yet reached the top officials of the Police Recruitment Cell and was only focusing on individual candidates and exam centres. “There cannot be such widespread malpractices in the exams and selection of candidates without the involvement of those who conducted the exams,” a senior police official said. Congress leader Priyank Kharge has also alleged that the State Government was focusing on the bottom of the pyramid of the scam and trying to divert attention away from the kingpins.
The CID arrested another successful candidate Yeshwanth Gowda from Kalaburagi, where he was serving at Police Training College, Naganahalli. Yeshwanth Gowda was a sub-inspector directly recruited to Karnataka State Industrial Security Force (KSISF) and had written the exam for civil PSI and was selected. He had, on April 22, submitted his documents to the CID and officials found some discrepancies in his documents during the verification. Investigations indicated he also indulged in malpractices, CID sources said. He was arrested on Wednesday.
Third notice served
Meanwhile, the CID served notice for the third time to Mr. Kharge on Wednesday to join the probe and submit the audio clip and other evidence he had regarding the scam within the next two days. Mr. Kharge, who has earlier refused to appear before the CID, challenged the Government to arrest him for ignoring the notices served by the CID on him. “It is an attempt to silence the Opposition,” he alleged.
In the two earlier notices, to which he has replied, the CID had not asked for any specific document. “But in this notice I have been served on Wednesday, they have asked for the audio clip and its authenticity. But he argued that the transcript of the audio clip was already in the public domain and why the CID, instead of probing itself, was asking him to authenticate it. Moreover, BJP leaders Minister Prabhu Chavan and S.V. Sankanur had spoken before me, but have not been served notices,” he said.
