IAS officer arrested in Karnataka public service exam fraud case

IAS officer Gyanendra Kumar Gangwar has been arrested in an investigation into alleged fraud in a Karnataka Public Service Commission examination for 400 veterinary officer posts.

The FIR alleges that Gangwar received ₹1.1 crore from two candidates in exchange for tampering with their OMR answer sheets. Investigators are examining his role in the handling of question papers, evaluation procedures and the alleged manipulation of answer sheets.

Gangwar, a 2016-batch Indian Administrative Service officer, currently serves as director of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises. He served as the KPSC examination controller from February 2024 to March 2026.

Officials said investigators questioned him for about nine hours in Bengaluru on Friday and continued questioning on Saturday. They said inconsistencies in his statements and what they described as a lack of cooperation led to his custody late Saturday. “We took him into custody on Saturday and the arrest was formalised by Sunday afternoon,” an officer familiar with the case said.

Gangwar appeared before a magistrate on Sunday and was remanded to judicial custody. He was later taken to Parappana Agrahara prison. The state government transferred the case to the CID on July 28 after two cases were registered at Vidhana Soudha police station. The complaint was filed by veterinarian Manjunath against suspended former KPSC chairman Shivashankarappa S. Sahukara and others. The Enforcement Directorate is conducting a separate examination of the alleged irregularities.

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We took him into custody on Saturday and the arrest was formalised by Sunday afternoon.