Expanding the scope of the probe, the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has arrested two police officers in the PSI recruitment examination scam. Till now, the CID had arrested only selected candidates allegedly involved in malpractices, touts, and those in charge of the examination centres where malpractices were reported.
The two officers — Mallikarjun Sali, Deputy Superintendent of Police (Dy.SP) currently posted in Lingsugur Sub-Division of Raichur district, and Anand Maitri, circle police inspector attached to the fingerprints division in Kalaburagi — are facing charges of striking a deal with Rudragouda Patil, one of the key accused in the case, for helping candidates write the examination using Bluetooth devices.
Meanwhile, the CID has been questioning three officials posted in the Police Recruitment Cell on their suspected role in the malpractices. Dy.SP Shanta Kumar, who had a 12-year tenure in the cell and was transferred out after the scam broke out, a personal assistant to the cell’s chief, and another officer are being questioned by the CID, sources said. There were questions raised as to why the CID was probing only selected candidates, touts, and those who had manned the examination centres and not anyone in the recruitment cell that conducted the examination.
The CID also arrested two selected candidates — Somanath, a constable posted at Kumbalgod police station and Raghavendra. Somanath had secured the eighth rank in the selection list of 545 candidates. They were among the 22 candidates who wrote their examination in Bengaluru, and were marked out as suspected to have indulged in malpractices during the verification of their answer sheets by the CID.
