Taking exception to the Criminal Investigation Department projecting some of the accused arrested in the PSI recruitment scam as the kingpins, Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee spokesperson and MLA for Chittapur Priyank Kharge said that the real kingpins are still at large.
“R.D. Patil and Divya Hagaragi who are already arrested in the scam are not the kingpins. The real kingpins are in Bengaluru and are being protected by the Government. I feel that the Government is trying to close the investigation by projecting some of the accused that are already arrested as the kingpins. That is why the CID is showing little interest in expanding the scope of the investigation beyond Kalaburagi,” Mr. Priyank Kharge said, at a media conference at Aiwan-e-Shahi guest house in Kalaburagi on Saturday.
Recalling Home Minister Araga Jnanendra’s reply in the Legislative Council on March 10 on the PSI recruitment scam, Mr. Priyank Kharge said that the Minister had misled the House with his attempt to cover up the scam.
“The Home Minister had, on the Floor, said that his department had received five complaints on the alleged irregularities and malpractices in the PSI recruitment examination. He had also said that a team of officers had examined the process and found no irregularities or inadequacies in the recruitment process. Within a few days after his reply on the Floor, the scam came out. The same Home Minister now said that there were widespread irregularities in the PSI recruitment examination. What action was then taken against the team of officers that, based on the five complaints, verified the process and found no fault in the recruitment scam? Where is the report that this team of officers submitted to the Home Minister? I don’t say that the Home Minister is involved in it. But, I am sure that he is protecting some kingpins of the scam. He is spoiling his own political career by safeguarding the masterminds of the scam,” Mr. Priyank Kharge said.
Taking exceptions to the CID for “selective leaking of investigation information”, Mr. Priyank Kharge demanded the Government make public the complete information about the investigation and the involvement of each person in the scam.
“There are many questions that remain unanswered. Where is the report that the senior officers submitted to the Home Minister claiming that there were no irregularities in the PSI recruitment? How many among the 545 selected candidates have submitted their OMR sheets to the CID for verification? How many of them are still absconding? How many are the in-service candidates among the 545 candidates selected? What are the roles of the 12 people in the Police Department that were put under suspension? The Government should answer these questions instead of leaking only such information which is convenient to it,” Mr. Priyank Kharge said.
Mr. Priyank Kharge also recalled the irregularities reported in the examination conducted in 2021 for the recruitment of police constables and sought the status of the investigation into it.
“There were complaints that Bluetooth devices were used to carry out malpractices in that exam too. The Home Minister should clarify the status of its investigation. Some reports indicated that the key accused in the police constable recruitment scam and the current PSI recruitment scam are the same. The accused were so confident of Government protection that they committed another crime after going scot-free in the first one,” Mr. Priyank Kharge said.
Terming the CID notices served on him as threatening measure, Mr. Priyank Kharge said that the Government could not stop him from raising genuine questions by serving notices on him.
“I am concerned about the 57,000 candidates who had written PSI recruitment examination. You cannot stop me with notices. I go on raising questions till all the accused in the scam are arrested and punished and the genuine candidates get justice,” he said.
