Karnataka KPSC Recruitment Scam: IAS Officer Gyanendra Kumar Gangwar Arrested by CID After 20-Hour Interrogation
The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the Karnataka Police has arrested senior Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Gyanendra Kumar Gangwar in connection with widespread irregularities surrounding a Karnataka Public Service Commission (KPSC) recruitment examination. The 2016-batch Karnataka-cadre bureaucrat was taken into custody late Saturday night following an exhaustive, 20-hour interrogation across two consecutive days. Investigators cited non-cooperation and evasive, contradictory responses during questioning as primary grounds for his arrest.
Gangwar, an alumnus of IIT Kanpur who was serving as the Director in the Department of Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSME), previously held the key position of KPSC Controller of Examinations during the period when the tainted test was organized. The case focuses on competitive examinations conducted to fill 400 Veterinary Officer vacancies in the state. Multiple complaints from candidates alleged that question papers were leaked, OMR answer sheets were systematically tampered with, and intermediaries demanded bribes ranging between ₹70 lakh and ₹80 lakh to guarantee selection.
Following his arrest, CID sleuths produced Gangwar before a magistrate court, which initially remanded him to judicial custody at the Central Prison in Parappana Agrahara. On Monday, the 1st ACMM Court in Bengaluru formally remanded the officer to CID custody through September 10 to facilitate deeper custodial interrogation and forensic evaluation of seized documents.
Prior to his arrest, the case generated intense administrative and political friction in Karnataka. Gangwar had briefly gone incommunicado after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) raided his Jayamahal Extension residence in Bengaluru, though state officials later clarified he had traveled to his hometown in Uttar Pradesh for a family medical emergency before returning to face CID summons. With forensic teams currently evaluating hundreds of OMR sheets alongside parallel probes into suspended KPSC higher-ups, Gangwar’s arrest marks a major escalation in the state’s crackdown on recruitment corruption.
