New Delhi, 14 November

The Enforcement Directorate has attached properties worth Rs 1.22 crore belonging to suspended Karnataka Public Service Commission (KPSC) chairman Shivashankarappa S Sahukar, former member B V Geetha and IAS officer Gyanendra Kumar Gangwar as part of a money laundering investigation.

The action followed the federal agency's investigation into the alleged KPSC recruitment scam, it said in a statement on Saturday.

The attached assets included immovable and movable properties belonging to Sahukar, Geetha and Gangwar, who was then posted as the Controller of Examinations, KPSC.

The ED's case, filed under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, was based on multiple FIRs registered by the state police over alleged irregularities in the exam conducted by the KPSC to recruit 400 veterinary officers.

Sahukar, Geetha, Gangwar and alleged middleman Basavaraj Kannale were arrested in the case.

The ED alleged that at Sahukar's instance, Gangwar, using seating arrangements and jumbled charts, provided the correct answers to 80 questions for six candidates whose registration numbers were given to him by Geetha.

"In return, the then chairman (Sahukar) assured him of favourable interview marks in the Karnataka Administrative Service examination for a candidate of his choice," it said.

The agency said Sahukar collected Rs 10 lakh in cash from one candidate against a deal of Rs 20 lakh, and Geetha collected Rs 20 lakh in cash from another candidate against a deal of Rs 40 lakh.

Apart from cash, the "illegal gratification" was also collected through bank accounts at the cooperative bank Om Lakshmi Souharda Sahakari Sangha Niyamita in Bhalki (Bidar), as well as other third parties. The money was disguised as bogus savings account entries, the ED said.

It further claimed that Rs 13.31 lakh worth of air travel expenses for Gangwar, his family and friends were met by middleman Kannale through third-party accounts.

The three accused could not be contacted for comment.