PSI recruitment scam kingpin writes to Lokayukta accusing CID officer of taking bribe to weaken case

PSI recruitment scam investigating officer — Deputy Superintendent of Police in Criminal Investigating Department (CID) Shankargowda Patil — has been accused of taking a bribe of ₹76 lakh as part of a demand for ₹3 crore. 
| Photo Credit: ARUN KULKARNI

In a major twist to the Police Sub-Inspector (PSI) recruitment scam, key accused Rudragowda Patil wrote a letter to the Karnataka Lokayukta accusing the investigating officer — Deputy Superintendent of Police in Criminal Investigating Department (CID) Shankargowda Patil — of taking ₹76 lakh as part of a demand for a bribe of ₹3 crore.

The letter, a copy of which is with The Hindu, has been sent to the Lokayukta along with a pen drive that contains an audio clip of a purported conversation between the accused and the CID officer.

“Shankargowda Patil, DySP and the investigating officer in the case, had demanded ₹3 crore for giving me relief in the case. I had refused to pay that much of money. He insisted that I pay the sum he demanded or face serious consequences. I arranged ₹76,00,000, which I handed over to him through my relative Srikanth, along with a promise to hand over the remaining amount after I was released on bail,” Rudragowda alleged in the letter.

The accusation of demanding a bribe by the investigation officer has been made by Rudragowda Patil, the alleged kingpin of PSI recruitment scam.
| Photo Credit:
ARUN KULKARNI

He further accused Mr. Shankargowda of pressuring him to pay the remaining ₹2,24,00,000, and threatening to file many First Information Reports (FIRs) against him. “The audio recording of the conversation between me and Shankargowda Patil is attached with the letter. I request legal action against this corrupt officer,” Rudragowda wrote in the letter.

Copies of the letter were marked to Additional Director General of Police (CID), Police Commissioner of Kalaburagi, Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Alok Kumar, Home Minister Araga Jnanendra, and ‘all media friends’.

Karnataka’s PSI recruitment scam and the rot at the top

Hours before Rudragowda surrendered before the court in Kalaburagi on Monday in a case of him pushing the CID officers who had come to his residence for arresting him and escaping from their clutches, a video clip of him describing the sequence of events that unfolded since the Enforcement Directorate sleuths raided his residence on Thursday was uploaded on RD Patil Yuva Brigade, Afzalpur Facebook page. In that video, Rudragowda addressed the media and also levelled the same bribery allegation against DySP Shankargowda. He showed the receipts for the registered posts through which he sent his complaint against Shankaragowda to Lokayukta and other senior officers.

Speaking to The Hindu, Mr. Shankaragowda, however, dismissed the allegations and said that Rudragowda’s allegations were an attempt to mentally weaken him and removed him from the investigation team.

“It is absolutely false allegation. He [Rudragowda] wants me and my team to go out of the investigation of the PSI recruitment scam. We are thoroughly investigating the case and getting everybody involved in the case. As many as 20 candidates who had joined hands with him are so for brought to justice. Our investigating methodology is scientific and our local knowledge is helping us to get to the bottom of the barrel. He knows that all his misdeeds, not just in the PSI recruitment examination but also in other recruitment examinations such as those conducted for SDA and FDA, would come out if I continue to investigate the case. More FIRs against him would lead to invoking stringent KCOCA [Karnataka Control of Organised Crimes Act, 2000] against him. In order to avoid this, he wants us to go out of the investigating team so that he would manage the new team,” Mr. Shankaragowda said.

When asked about the audio tape that Rudragowda attached to his complaint to Lokayukta, Mr. Shankaragowda admitted its authenticity by stating that the conversation was recorded in the second week of July 2022 when the accused was facing interrogation in CID custody.

“It was recorded when I was interrogating him. We asked questions about the case and he attempted to divert the issue and talked of luring us. I clearly noticed it and even mentioned it in my report that was submitted to the court on July 16, 2022,” Mr. Shankaragowda told The Hindu.