Karnataka Home Minister Araga Jnanendra on Wednesday, August 3, said the state government would soon decide on conducting the police sub-inspector examination, which was annulled a couple of months ago following alleged irregularities. The Home Minister gave assurance to the candidates who are appearing for the examination that the exam dates would be announced soon, a statement issued by his office said. Jnanendra apprised them that the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) is probing into the case of irregularities. Once the investigation is over, the next dates for the exam would be published. There is no need for the 56,000 candidates who wrote the exam and did not indulge in any malpractices to panic, the minister was quoted as telling the candidates. He assured them to now worry about losing the eligibility criteria with regard to exceeding the age bar.
The Karnataka Police Sub-Inspector (PSI) examination was held in October 2021 for 545 police sub-inspector posts with 54,041 students appearing for it. A candidate named Viresh from Kalaburagi wrote the exam at the Jnana Jyothi English Medium school in the district. Viresh scored 121 marks though he only attempted some 20-odd questions. Viresh’s marks became a matter of public debate after a friend leaked them. This was because Viresh reportedly refused to pay touts and his friend, who had introduced him to the touts, came under pressure.
The CID in April arrested the alleged kingpin of the scam, BJP leader Divya Hagaragi. She ran the Jyan Jyothi Institute where Viresh appeared for the exam. The CID, which was investigating the case, suspected that Divya asked invigilators to fill the OMR (Optical Mark Recognition) sheets in the last few minutes of the exam. The CID, probing into the case, has arrested over 70 people, including an Additional Director General of Police Amrit Paul, who was later suspended. The CID also arrested the securityman of a Congress MLA, a deputy superintendent of police and a few other policemen including an inspector, sub-inspector, head constables, constables and the candidates.