ED brings locksmith to raid locked flat of IAS officer in Karnataka PSC recruitment case

“When the house was raided, Gangawar was not there. It was locked from outside. We tried contacting him over the phone, but it was not reachable,” said an officer. ED officials brought in a locksmith and unlocked the main door using a duplicate key. Officials proceeded with the search, which continued late into the night.

“We had no choice but to break open the door and search the house, abiding by the procedure,” the officer added.

The search followed reports on Saturday claiming that Gangwar was missing, a rumour dismissed by Home Minister Priyank Kharge, who stated that the officer had travelled to his hometown in Uttar Pradesh due to a family emergency.

The action at Gangwar’s residence was part of a broader crackdown by the agency involving searches across 21 premises in Karnataka, including Bengaluru, Hassan, Chitradurga, Davanagere, Raichur, Karwar, Kalaburagi, and Belagavi, as well as locations in Ahmedabad.

CID probe

The central agency’s intervention came amid an ongoing investigation by the state Criminal Investigation Department (CID) into an alleged scam involving the recruitment of 400 veterinary officers in the Animal Husbandry and Fisheries Department. The CID probe stems from a July 25 complaint filed by an aggrieved aspirant, Dr Manjunath, regarding the January 8 examination. The final selection list was published on July 17.

According to allegations, at least 29 candidates gained unauthorised access to question papers before the test, while several relatives of the KPSC chairman, board members, and staff allegedly secured top ranks on the final selection list. Meanwhile, the Karnataka High Court is hearing petitions seeking a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the allegations.