Karnataka | CID arrests then-ADGP Amrit Paul in PSI recruitment scam

News Network

July 4, 2022

Bengaluru, July 4: The Criminal Investigation Department has arrested senior IPS officer Amrit Paul in connection with his alleged involvement in the police sub-inspector recruitment scam.

Amrit Paul was additional director general of police (ADGP) of the state police’s recruitment wing when the scam took place.

The CID officers today took custody of Paul before taking him to a government hospital for medical examination. Sources said he might be taken into police custody for further questioning.

According to a police source, the rigging of a strong room and evidence collected regarding tampering with the question paper as well as the OMR sheets led to the arrest of Paul. DSP Shantha Kumar, who was responsible for the strong room, was arrested earlier. According to the police probe, the scam involves more than Rs 100 crore.

In October last year, 54,287 candidates appeared for the examination for posts of police sub-inspectors. As many as 545 posts were to be filled, but several officers were accused of a scam in the recruitment process. The Karnataka Criminal Investigation Department (CID), which is probing the case, has arrested more than 50 persons, including government officials, agents and aspirants who had made it to the list.

The exam scam emerged after a candidate Veeresh N, who obtained the seventh rank among 67 candidates selected from the Kalyana Karnataka region, was found to have obtained 121 marks despite answering only 21 out of 100 questions in an objective paper for 150 marks as per the carbon copy of his OMR sheet.

“When the coded OMR sheet of the candidate Veeresh, received at the police recruitment cell, was compared with the OMR sheet that was provided for the candidate by members of the public, it was found that Veeresh had answered only 21 questions in the exam hall. The OMR sheet received at the police recruitment cell showed that he had answered all 100 questions,” says a CID FIR in the case. Each question carried 1.5 marks.

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HC refuses to quash probe against Mangaluru WhatsApp admin over offensive posts

News Network

February 1,2026

Bengaluru: The Karnataka High Court has refused to quash an investigation against a WhatsApp group administrator accused of allowing the circulation of obscene and offensive images depicting Hindutva politicians and idols in 2021.

Justice M Nagaprasanna observed that, prima facie, the ingredients of the offence under Section 295A of the Indian Penal Code were made out. “The offence under Section 295A of the IPC is met to every word of its ingredient, albeit prima facie,” the judge said.

The petitioner, Sirajuddin, a resident of Belthangady taluk in Dakshina Kannada district, had challenged the FIR registered against him at the CEN (Cyber, Economics and Narcotics) police station, Mangaluru, for offences under Section 295A of the IPC and Section 67 of the Information Technology Act. Section 295A relates to punishment for deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage the religious feelings of any class of citizens.

According to the complaint filed by K Jayaraj Salian, also a resident of Belthangady taluk, he received a WhatsApp group link from an unknown source and was added to the group after accessing it. The group reportedly had six administrators and around 250 participants, where obscene and offensive images depicting Hindu deities and certain political figures were allegedly circulated repeatedly.

Sirajuddin was arrested in connection with the case and later released on bail on February 16, 2021. He argued before the court that he was being selectively targeted, while other administrators—including the creator of the group—were neither arrested nor investigated. He also contended that the Magistrate could not have taken cognisance of the offence under Section 295A without prior sanction under Section 196(1) of the CrPC.

Rejecting the argument, Justice Nagaprasanna held that prior sanction is required only at the stage of taking cognisance, and not at the stage of registration of the crime or during investigation.

The judge noted that the State had produced the entire investigation material before the court. “A perusal of the material reveals depictions of Hindu deities in an extraordinarily obscene, demeaning and profane manner. The content is such that its reproduction in a judicial order would itself be inappropriate,” the court said, adding that the material, on its face, had the tendency to outrage religious feelings and disturb communal harmony.

Observing that the case was still at the investigation stage, the court said it could not interdict the probe at this juncture. However, it expressed concern that the investigating officer appeared to have not proceeded uniformly against all administrators. The court clarified that if the investigation revealed the active involvement of any member in permitting the circulation of such content, they must also be proceeded against.

“At this investigative stage, any further observation by this Court would be unnecessary,” the order concluded.

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