In April, Congress leader Priyank Kharge claimed to have evidence of the PSI recruitment scam, but failed to appear before the CID to present the same for investigation.
Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Saturday, May 7, said that those issuing statements in connection with the police sub-inspector (PSI) recruitment scam are responsible for what they say, and it is their duty to furnish documents and other evidence. The statement came against the backdrop of Chittapur Congress MLA and former minister Priyank Kharge’s denial to depose before the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in connection with his claims in a press conference on April 23 regarding the recruitment scam.
“People are responsible for what they say. It is their duty to provide documents and evidence to substantiate their claims,” CM Bommai told reporters. He added that the documents submitted by them will be used for investigation. During the April 23 press conference, Kharge had released an audio clip of a purported conversation between a candidate who had successfully passed the exam, and a middleman suspected to have put the candidate in touch with officials responsible for appointing sub-inspectors who pass the exam.
Regarding Kharge’s statement that corruption was rampant in the incumbent BJP government, CM Bommai said Congress is the ‘Gangotri’ of corruption. “Being a person coming from a Congress family, Kharge knows it better,” he added. The CM further said he did not need to “learn lessons on honesty” from Kharge.
The CID has served three notices to Kharge asking him to depose before it in connection with his statements in a press conference but he turned it down saying that the notices were served with mala fide intention.
In Belagavi, former Chief Minister and Congress leader Siddaramaiah on Saturday alleged that Karnataka Higher Education Minister Dr CN Ashwath Narayan’s relative secured fifth rank in the sub-inspector examination. “Ashwath Narayan’s relative has also got selected. He scored fifth rank. He alone was spared and others were sent to jail. According to me, without the involvement of the government and ministers, this scam would not have happened,” the Congress leader told reporters.
Stating that getting justice from the government in the PSI recruitment scam was difficult, he alleged that police officers, politicians and their relatives are also involved. “The CID can be influenced. We demand that a court monitored investigation should be carried out,” Siddaramaiah said.
Ashwath Narayan has come under the attack on previous occasions as well but the minister refuted the charge of being involved in the PSI recruitment scam and termed it “baseless”.
Meanwhile, 12 police officers including a deputy inspector general of police have been suspended for their role in the PSI scam. The government has annulled the PSI recruitment exam after large-scale irregularities came to the fore.
Over 35 people including a BJP leader Divya Hagargi, the principal of a college in Kalaburagi, a few police officers, and the gunman of a Congress MLA have been arrested in connection with the case. The exam was conducted in October last year to fill up 545 posts and over 54,000 people had written it. It is alleged that Rs 75 lakh was collected from a few candidates by middlemen.
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