Alleged kingpin in the police sub-inspector (PSI) recruitment scam Divya Hagaragi, who had been on the run for over a fortnight, was arrested in Pune, Maharashtra, on Friday early morning.
Ms. Hagaragi runs the Gyan Jyoti English Medium School in Kalaburagi in Karnataka where exam answer sheets were allegedly rigged. Her husband Rajesh Hagaragi was arrested two weeks ago and is in judicial custody. However, she was on the run.
Political affiliation
Since Ms. Hagaragi is associated with the Bharatiya Janata Party in Karnataka, the delay in her arrest had triggered allegations from the political Opposition about the ruling party trying to protect her.
Home Minister Araga Jnanendra had denied the charge and said she would be arrested soon. He announced the arrest on Friday and said it showed the Government’s commitment to a fair probe. “We have given the CID a free hand, and we will not intervene in the probe at any cost,” he said, adding the Government was considering invoking stringent laws like the Karnataka Control of Organised Crimes Act, 2000.
He hoped Ms. Hagaragi’s arrest will lead to uncovering the entire scam and whether malpractices were rampant at other centres as well. Hours later, he announced the Government’s decision to annul the results of PSI recruitment exams held in October 2021 and hold a re-exam.
Six others arrested
Ms. Hagaragi had been on the run from April 10, a day after her name figured in the FIR filed in the scam. Her phone was switched off and she had been elusive. She had applied for anticipatory bail, which the court denied but instead issued arrest warrants against six persons and asked them to surrender before a week.
CID sources said the arrest of Jyoti Patil, who works in Shahbad Municipal Corporation, on April 28, led to the arrest of Ms. Hagaragi. Jyoti Patil was in touch with one of the persons who was accompanying Ms. Hagaragi, sources said.
On questioning, Ms. Hagaragi revealed that she left Kalaburagi on April 10 after a case was registered on April 9 at Chowk police station in connection with alleged malpractices. Her cellphone was switched off on April 10. She and the four others stayed in Solapur in Maharashtra on April 11 and 12 before travelling further north to Pune where they stayed from April 13 to 18. She then went to Gujarat where she stayed from April 19 to 21. She returned to Maharashtra on April 22 and took shelter in a residence on the outskirts of Pune till Karnataka police caught up with her on April 29.
Total arrests
The police have arrested six persons apart from Ms. Hagaragi on Friday, including three staffers at Gyan Jyoti English Medium School — principal Kashinath, teachers Archana and Sunanda, and Shanti Bai, a candidate who wrote the exam and was allegedly involved in malpractices. Ms. Hagaragi had been given shelter by a Maharashtra-based businessman Suresh Kategaon and his associate Kalidas, who have also been arrested. All the seven accused have been remanded in CID custody for 11 days, sources said.
In all, 23 persons, including Ms. Hagaragi, her husband Rajesh and Congress leader Rudragowda Patil, have been arrested in connection with the PSI recruitment exam scam.
