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ED seeks Bengaluru court permit to quiz 5 accused in PSI scam
In August, the ED registered an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) after concluding from an examination of the FIRs and charge sheets that money laundering had taken place in the scam.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has approached a Bengaluru court seeking permission to question five accused in the Karnataka police sub-inspector (PSI) recruitment scam as it suspects money laundering in the case, persons in the know of the development said on Friday.
In August, the ED registered an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) after concluding from an examination of the FIRs and charge sheets that money laundering had taken place in the scam.
In continuation of the action, last week ED had field a petition filed before the first additional chief metropolitan magistrate, seeking a court order allowing it to record the statements of five of the accused — a first division assistant (FDA) working with the recruitment cell of the police department D Harsha; deputy superintendent of police Shanthakumar, aspirant Jagruth S; businessman Sharath Kumar R who ran chit funds in Nelamangala and Chikkamagaluru section superintendent Manjunath R, who had allegedly collected ₹45 lakh from another PSI aspirant.
The ED had asked the court to allow its two officers to enter the jail and record the statement of the accused. It also sought from the court to direct the jail authorities to ask one of the officers to be present while recording the statement.
On Thursday, a divisional bench of the high court had issued an interim order asking the state to not announce the dates of a re-examination for the recruitment of 545 sub-inspector posts. The order was based on a petition filed by three candidates from Kolar, who had opposed the government’s announcement that a re-examination will be conducted.
The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) had registered a case in the matter on April 9 after it was discovered that marks were forged by a few aspirants in the common entrance test (CET) conducted for the recruitment of the PSIs. Following this, the results were nullified by the state government.
In April last week, home minister Araga Jnanendra said that the government had decided to conduct a re-examination for the post. The petition was filed in connection with the announcement.
Meanwhile, CID officials probing the scam submitted an additional charge sheet against additional director general of police (ADGP) Amrit Paul on Wednesday.
Paul is the first ADGP — the second-highest rank in the police hierarchy — to be arrested in connection with a corruption case in the state. CID arrested Paul, who was heading the police recruitment cell in Karnataka, after his name cropped up in the ongoing investigation into the PSI case, where money was taken from candidates to enable them to cheat during their examinations or for tampering their answers sheets after the exam.
A senior officer said the additional charge sheet has seven volumes and is around 1,406 pages long with 78 documents and 38 witnesses. It was alleged that accused number 31 in the case, deputy superintendent of police (DySp) Shanthakumar had paid ₹1.5 crore to Paul, who had given him keys to the almirah in the strong room where OMR sheets were kept.
