Key suspect in Karnataka veterinarians recruitment case arrested at Delhi airport

Kannale was allegedly part of a conspiracy in KPSC in which low-scoring candidates in the veterinarians entrance exam conducted in January this year were offered recruitment in exchange for Rs 80 lakh, at the cost of eligible candidates.

Kannale, a native of Bhalki in Bidar, is a syndicate member of Tumkur University and has been linked to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the district. He has also posted photographs on social media with BJP leaders.

Bhagwanth Khuba, the BJP Bidar unit leader, said Kannale is not a BJP worker and “is not associated with the party in any way”.

Kannale’s arrest comes days after CID arrested 2016-batch Karnataka cadre IAS officer Gyanendra Kumar Gangwar on August 29. Gangwar served as the controller of examinations at KPSC from 2024 to March 2026, the period during which the alleged veterinary doctors’ recruitment scam is believed to have occurred.

The CID’s investigation has found that Gangwar was in frequent contact with Kannale, who allegedly approached candidates after the veterinary doctors’ entrance examination in January 2026 and offered to facilitate their recruitment in exchange for cash.

On Monday, CID also searched multiple properties linked to Kannale in his home district of Bidar.

No bail for suspended KPSC chairman

Meanwhile, suspended KPSC chairman Shivashankarappa, named in the second First Information Report (FIR), sought anticipatory bail from the Karnataka High Court after a district court rejected his plea on August 11.

On Monday, the high court declined to grant him immediate interim protection from arrest, noting that he had already appeared before CID for two days of questioning without being arrested. The court has given the CID until Thursday to file its objections.

On Saturday, the high court reserved its judgment on separate pleas seeking a CBI probe into the veterinary doctors’ recruitment case and the case involving his daughter.

Shivashankarappa has denied the allegations, arguing that no direct allegation is made against him and that the case is politically motivated.

The Governor suspended him on August 25 in connection with a separate KPSC case involving the alleged fraudulent recruitment of his daughter as an industrial extension officer using a fake income certificate.

KPSC case

According to the FIR filed by a candidate who did not qualify, KPSC published the eligibility list on February 12, 2026, after entrance tests for the post of veterinary officers held on January 8 and 9, but omitted candidates’ addresses, phone numbers, and other details.

The FIR alleges that middlemen subsequently used this confidential information to approach ineligible candidates, offering to manipulate their OMR answer sheets and secure appointments for Rs 80 lakh, with Rs 40 lakh to be paid in advance.

Some candidates recorded the alleged approaches and submitted the audio and video evidence to the police.

The FIR alleges that such confidential information could not have reached the middlemen “without the involvement of the chairman, members and officials of KPSC”.

A second complaint filed on July 25 alleges that 29 candidates, including an alleged relative of the KPSC chairman, secured appointments through fraudulent means, including the alleged prior supply of question papers.

The CID has seized 329 OMR sheets and their carbon copies from selected candidates for forensic analysis to determine whether the answer sheets were tampered with.