The police have arrested three more people, including a guest lecturer at a government degree college, in connection with the alleged irregularities in the Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation Limited (KPTCL) recruitment examination that took place on August 7.
The Belagavi district police Wednesday said they have arrested Adesh Naganuri, a guest lecturer at the government degree college in Hukkeri, Madiwalappa Toranagatti, and Shankar Unakal. With the latest arrests, 12 people have been nabbed so far and four suspects are still at large, said officials.
According to police sources, Naganuri was at a farmhouse, 30 km away from the exam centre, and provided answers to an aspirant through a Bluetooth device. Toranagatti and Unakal are relatives of the aspirant who appeared for the exam. The police said that they have seized a car, two Bluetooth devices, and three mobile phones from the accused.
KPTCL is the sole electricity transmission and distribution company of Karnataka owned by the Government. The Karnataka Examination Authority (KEA) holds exams for KPTCL recruitments.
On January 24 this year, KPTCL had invited applications to fill 1,492 posts in the department. This included 505 assistant engineers (power), 28 assistant engineers (civil), 570 junior engineers (power), 29 junior engineers (civil) and 360 junior assistants. The exams for technical posts were held on August 23 and 24 and aptitude tests for junior assistants and Kannada language examination for technical positions were held on August 7.
The police arrested a man, Siddappa Madihalli, in the state’s Belagavi district when they found him using a smartwatch while writing the exam on August 7. He had sent question papers using the smartphone and was receiving answers through Bluetooth.
The action came after another aspirant complained to the staff about it and when CCTV footage was checked, it showed Madihalli using his smartphone. Naganuri had received the question paper on the Telegram application from Madihalli and had sent him answers, said the police.
The police took Madihalli in custody and raided the farm. They found a question paper copy with the registration number of the municipal college in Gadag at the farm.
The police probe has indicated the question paper was leaked from the Gadag municipal college where vice-principal Maruti Sonavane and his son Samith Kumar were involved. Samith had entered the exam centre posing as a journalist and had taken photos of the question paper, said the police.
Belagavi Superintendent of Police Sanjeev M Patil said it is evident that malpractice took place in JSS PU College in Gokak and the municipal college in Gadag. “We suspect some of the examination centres in Athani in Belagavi district were also compromised. Among the arrested, there are aspirants who wrote examinations, people who leaked question papers, and also some of the government officials involved,” added Patil.
The police suspect that Sanjay Bandari alias Sanju is the kingpin of the scam. They also suspect the gang collected Rs 3 lakh to Rs 5 lakh from candidates to provide answers using electronic gadgets, including smartwatches and Bluetooth devices.
Karnataka Power Minister V Sunil Kumar said they will not tolerate any malpractice in the exam and will take strict action against those found guilty. Kumar added justice will be provided to the deserving aspirants. He also said a decision will be made once they get the final report from the police.
With another recruitment scam exposed, Congress state chief D K Shivakumar criticised the government and also threw jibes at the BJP, saying it was the achievement of the ruling dispensation to leak question papers. “Unemployment in Karnataka state is increasing and recruitment scams like this are posing threat to the future of youth. ‘We will take stern action’ is what the BJP says on papers but never implements,” added Shivakumar.
Congress general secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala said it is another scam of 40 per cent commission. Instead of providing good administration, the BJP’s scams are coming out at lightning speed, said Surjewala.