K'taka railway officer took Rs 50 lakh bribe for helping candidates pass KAS exam, arrested

Bengaluru: Karnataka Police have arrested the Chief Railway Ticket Inspector on charges of collecting Rs 50 lakh for helping candidates clear the Karnataka Administrative Service (KAS) exam.

The accused was identified as 49-year-old Govindaraju, the Chief Railway Ticket Inspector attached to the South Western Railways. The Vijayanagar police have filed an FIR under sections: 318 (4), 61(1)(a), and 3(5) of the BNS Act.

The police had taken up a suo motu case against the accused based on the tip-off. Bhimashankar Heroor, PSI attached to the Vijayanagar police station had filed the complaint against Govindaraju and others.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) (West) S. Girish said, on Monday, "Bhimashankar Heroor, PSI and head constable Girish Kumar T.N, who works as an informant in their station, received information from a source. The information indicated that Govindaraju, working as a Chief Ticket Inspector in South Western Railways at Majestic, was fraudulently contacting candidates appearing for competitive exams like KAS, PDO, Village Accountant, and others through intermediaries."

The accused promised to help the candidates pass the exams in exchange for money, the DCP stated.

Upon receiving this tip-off, the senior officers were informed, and instructions were given to confirm the information, locate the accused, and investigate the matter.

After coordinating with the informant, it was confirmed on December 28 at around 9 p.m. the accused Govindaraju was at the residence of Ramesh in Vijayanagar 4th Cross. Subsequently, PSI Bhimashankar and Girish Kumar reached the location and observed Govindaraju leaving Ramesh's house. They followed him and detained him, the DCP stated.

"When asked to produce his mobile phone, Govindaraju attempted to escape, but he was apprehended. Upon preliminary questioning, four mobile phones were found in his possession, for which he provided unsatisfactory answers. To further investigate, he was taken to the station and interrogated. During interrogation, it was revealed that Govindaraju was involved in a case registered in 2018 at the CCB office regarding exam fraud," he stated.

The accused admitted that for exams like PDO and KAS prelims, he would contact candidates through intermediaries, promising them success in exchange for Rs 25 lakh for PDO posts and Rs 50 lakh for KAS prelims, the DCP said.

The accused instructed the candidates to fill the OMR sheet with answers they knew and leave the rest blank, promising to fill in the correct answers later. As collateral, he collected their certificates, admit cards and cheques.

Upon inspecting one of the phones, a Realme device, 46 names along with images marked as "cheque" and "document" were discovered, the DCP stated.

It was found that Ramesh’s daughter, residing in Vijayanagar, was scheduled to appear for the KAS exam. Govindaraju had visited to discuss helping her pass the exam, he said.

"Govindaraju, a government employee, was fraudulently contacting candidates, promising them jobs by clearing competitive exams through illegal means. He was collecting large sums of money and documents, deceiving them. Legal action has been sought against Govindaraju, the intermediaries involved, and others participating in the fraud," DCP Girish stated.