Bengaluru: The investigation into the alleged job-for-cash scam in the Karnataka Public Service Commission (KPSC) took a major turn on Saturday, with the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) contemplating the arrest of senior IAS officer Gyanendra Kumar Gangwar after questioning him for nearly 21 hours over two days.Gangwar arrived at the CID headquarters on Palace Road around 11 am on Saturday and remained there until midnight. He was questioned for more than 13 hours, following over nine hours of questioning on Friday. The CID had directed him to appear again on Saturday after the first round of questioning.A senior IPS officer said Gangwar was not fully cooperating with the investigation. “He is dodging questions and not giving clear answers. That is why the questioning has stretched on for prolonged hours,” he said.Gangwar, a 2016-batch IAS officer from Uttar Pradesh, served as KPSC Controller of Examinations from Feb 2024 to March 2026. He is currently director of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) in the Industries and Commerce department.The CID is probing alleged irregularities in the KPSC recruitment exam for 400 veterinary officers held in Jan 2026, during Gangwar’s tenure. The final selection list was released on July 17.The controversy erupted after veterinary doctors who appeared for the exam approached Vidhana Soudha police, alleging large-scale irregularities, including OMR sheet tampering and a job-for-cash racket. The complainants alleged that middlemen demanded Rs 70 lakh to Rs 80 lakh from candidates for securing appointments and claimed to have submitted audio recordings of the alleged deals.The aspirants also alleged that some candidates wrote the exam at resorts and questioned the unusually high marks secured by certain selected candidates. They claimed some successful candidates were related to influential KPSC officials and that some had failed their degree examinations.The CID is examining whether confidential examination material was compromised and whether KPSC officials were involved. It has sent 658 OMR sheets to the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) to check for tampering, with the findings expected to be crucial to the probe.The Enforcement Directorate (ED), conducting a separate money-laundering probe, searched Gangwar’s Bengaluru residence on August 23 and premises in Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh. The ED has also flagged the absence of mandatory CCTV footage of KAS question paper preparation and printing in Gangwar’s chamber. According to the agency, the Controller of Examinations was authorised to select and print the paper.
