Bengaluru, 18 August (H.S.):

The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) on Tuesday conducted searches at 21 locations across Karnataka and Gujarat as part of its investigation into alleged irregularities in the recruitment of Veterinary Officers by the Karnataka Public Service Commission (KPSC).

The searches covered the KPSC headquarters in Bengaluru and the residences and offices of several individuals linked to the recruitment process. These included suspended KPSC Chairperson Shivashankarappa S. Sahukar, commission member Shanta Hosmani, alleged middlemen and candidates selected through the recruitment exercise.

ED officials also searched the premises of Ahmedabad-based Edutest Solutions Private Limited, the agency entrusted with the digital evaluation of the examination papers.

The raids were carried out in Bengaluru, Hassan, Chitradurga, Davanagere, Raichur, Karwar, Kalaburagi and Belagavi in Karnataka, apart from Ahmedabad in Gujarat.

The money-laundering investigation stems from four First Information Reports registered at the Vidhana Soudha Police Station in Bengaluru over alleged manipulation of the final selection process. The Karnataka government had subsequently transferred the investigation into the criminal cases to the Criminal Investigation Department.

According to the complaints, suspected middlemen allegedly contacted candidates and demanded between Rs 70 lakh and Rs 80 lakh from each of them in return for securing their selection as Veterinary Officers. One complainant reportedly provided investigators with audio recordings of conversations with the alleged intermediaries.

Investigators are examining allegations of question-paper leakage, tampering with optical mark recognition answer sheets and manipulation of the evaluation process. The recruitment of relatives of KPSC officials through allegedly fraudulent means is also under scrutiny.

The ED is attempting to trace the suspected proceeds of crime and identify financial transactions connected to the alleged recruitment racket. The searches were conducted under Section 17 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, which empowers the agency to search premises and seize records during an investigation.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Arun Lakshman