PSI recruitment scam: K'taka govt decides to hold re-exam; main suspect arrested
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Home Minister Araga Jnanendra on Friday said the State government has decided to cancel the alleged scam-tainted examination that was held to recruit 545 police sub-inspectors in the State and hold re-exams, while announcing the arrest of the main accused and other suspects in Pune.
Assuring a fair probe and strict punishment to those involved in the alleged scam, he said the government is also thinking of bringing stricter laws to control such malpractices.
"The main accused in the police recruitment exam scam Divya Hagaragi, along with the others, including Saddam (driver), Suresh and Kalidas (assistants) and Sunanda (worker), have been taken into custody in Pune. They are being inquired and brought to Karnataka," Jnanendra said.
Speaking to reporters here, he said it is clear that malpractices have taken place at several centres, even in Bengaluru. In this backdrop after discussions, the government decided to cancel the exams and hold re-exams, he said.
"Excluding the accused who had taken the exam, the others out of the total 54,289 people who had appeared for the exam will be given an opportunity to take the re-exam," he added.
The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the Karnataka police, probing into the case, has brought Divya Hagaragi, who was said to be associated with the BJP, to Kalaburagi.
Hagaragi was allegedly involved in rigging the recruitment and a written examination was held in October last. Following allegations of irregularities in the test, the government ordered the CID probe.
The alleged irregularities are said to have taken place at Jnana Jyothi English Medium School in Kalaburagi run by Hagaragi, who along with her associates, were at large for the past 18 days after the scam came to light.
Political slugfest also broke out between the ruling BJP and opposition Congress over the delay in Hagaragi's arrest and her alleged links with senior political leaders, also CID issuing a notice to Congress MLA and former Minister Priyank Kharge to appear with evidence to aid the ongoing investigation into the scam.
Stating that jobs for money cannot continue, the Home Minister said such malpractices are taking place in exams for recruitment and it is distressing.
"The government is thinking about bringing stricter laws aimed at protecting the interest of those who genuinely prepare and appear for exams, and to punish those who indulge in malpractices," he added.
The Minister, in response to a question, said there were too many exam centres, which would be reduced, and re-exams held at bigger centres where jammers and new technologies could be used to stop malpractices.
"...Bluetooth was also used (for malpractice), they will all be thoroughly inquired into," he said, adding that thinking is on to change all the exam centres, where the exams were held last time.
Asserting that no one involved in the scam would be spared, be they officers or politicians or businessmen or influential people, he said they would be brought to justice and the truth revealed to the public. "A fair and transparent probe will happen and no one will interfere in the investigation process," he said.
Appealing to candidates not to lose hope and appear for the re-exams with confidence, Jnanendra said, "All measures will be taken to transparently hold the exams, and we are gathering details about how UPSC exams are conducted and won't let negative forces disrupt the exam process."
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Over 17,000 people went missing in Delhi in 2024: NCRB
New Delhi (PTI): A total of 23,058 people, comprising 9,482 men and 13,576 women, were reported missing in Delhi in 2024, according to the latest National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB).
Of the total, 5,491 were children below the age of 18 — 1,571 boys, 3,920 girls.
The city recorded 17,567 fresh adult missing persons cases in 2024, comprising 7,911 men and 9,656 women.
According to the NCRB data, released on Wednesday, 14,637 men, 18,238 women and six transgender persons were still missing from previous years.
At the latest count, in 2024, Delhi had a total of 55,939 missing persons cases — 24,119 men, 31,814 women and six transgender persons.
In 2024, police traced or collected 28,392 missing persons, including 12,182 men, 16,208 women and two transgender persons.
Only half of the men and half of the women who went missing could be traced.
A total of 27,547 missing persons – 11,937 men, 15,606 women, four transgender persons — were yet to be untraced by the end of the year, the data showed.
The data also revealed that 5,352 children from previous years remained untraced at the beginning of 2024.
The number of still missing boys was 1,621, and the number of missing girls was 3,729. Two transgender children were yet to be found.
After adding the pending cases from previous years, the total number of missing children cases handled in 2024 rose to 10,843.
The police traced or recovered 6,762 missing children — 2,030 boys, 4,732 girls.
The recovery rate stood at 63.6 per cent for boys and 61.9 per cent for girls, while no transgender child was traced.
By the end of 2024, a total of 4,081 children remained untraced, 1,162 of them boys, 2,917 girls, and two transgender children.
