A Bengaluru court on 7 October 2026 remanded suspended Karnataka Public Service Commission (KPSC) Chairman Sahukar Shivashankarappa and KPSC member Geetha to the custody of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) until Wednesday noon, directing the agency to produce them before an open court by 3 p.m. The arrests mark a significant escalation in the probe into the alleged KPSC recruitment scam, which has now drawn in senior officials, a BJP leader, and an IAS officer.

Midnight Arrests and Early-Morning Court Hearing

ED officials arrested Shivashankarappa and Geetha around midnight, producing them before a magistrate at approximately 2 a.m. The agency sought 14 days of custody, but Bengaluru Fourth CCH Judge Manjunath granted a shorter remand, ordering the accused to be brought before an open court. The late-night operation followed the conclusion of the ED's custody of BJP leader Basavaraj Kannale and IAS officer Gyanendra Kumar, both of whom were subsequently remanded to judicial custody.

Witnesses Set to Emerge from the Candidate Pool

More than eight candidates linked to the alleged scam are reportedly willing to turn witnesses. Their statements are expected to be recorded before the court under Section 164 of the Criminal Procedure Code. According to reports, these candidates have already disclosed details to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), describing an alleged operation that included payment of bribes, question paper leakage, and candidates being trained at a resort before being dropped near examination centres.

Scale and Mechanics of the Alleged Scam

Investigators have found that bribes in the alleged scheme ranged from ₹30 lakh to ₹80 lakh per candidate. At least 13 recent recruitment drives are under the ED's scanner, with veterinary officer recruitments reported to face the most serious corruption charges. The probe has revealed that middlemen allegedly targeted competitive government job aspirants, that marks were deliberately withheld from public lists, and that OMR sheets were altered to ensure corrupt candidates cleared the process.

Parallel Probes and SIT Oversight

The ED is conducting a parallel money laundering investigation alongside the CID's criminal probe. The Karnataka High Court has constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to oversee the case, led by DGP Alok Kumar with a five-member team. The multi-agency investigation underscores the scale of the alleged irregularities, which cut across bureaucratic, political, and administrative layers of the state's public service recruitment machinery.

What Happens Next

With Shivashankarappa and Geetha now in ED custody, investigators are expected to trace alleged financial transactions and establish the money trail connecting officials, middlemen, and candidates. The recording of witness statements under Section 164 CrPC will be closely watched, as confessions made before a magistrate carry significant evidentiary weight in court. The case is likely to widen further as the SIT and ED share intelligence across the 13 flagged recruitments.