PSI charge sheet: Woman topper paid Rs 30 lakh bribe

The CID filed the charge sheet before the first ACMM court in the case that has rocked state politics and led to the arrest of ADGP Amrit Paul and other officials

Rachana Hanumanth, an engineering graduate, who bagged the first rank in the women's category of the police sub-inspector (PSI) exam, had paid Rs 30 lakh in bribe, according to the charge sheet filed.

The CID filed the charge sheet before the first ACMM court in the case that has rocked state politics and led to the arrest of ADGP Amrit Paul and other senior officials.

The charge sheet details the money transactions between Rachana, who hails from Basavana Bagewadi, Vijayapura district, and staff in the police recruitment wing.

Rachana, who hails from Basavana Bagewadi, Vijayapura district, approached Harsha, a first-division assistant in the recruitment wing, through middlemen and agreed to pay a bribe of Rs 35 lakh to clear the exam. She paid Rs 30 lakh, the charge sheet says.

Harsha handed over the money to Superintendent of Police Shanthakumar, who has also been arrested in the scam. As per the plan, Rachana's OMR sheet was tampered with in the strongroom. Rachana scored 25 marks in Paper-I (essay, translation and summary writing) and 128.25 marks in Paper II (General Studies). In all, she scored 153.25 marks, topping the women's category, according to the charge sheet.

KSRP inspectors S V Madhu and Guru Basavaraj acted as the go-between for Rachana and Harsha and received a share of the booty, the charge sheet states.

According to the charge sheet, Harsha and Madhu are related. Harsha asked Madhu to find candidates who can pay. Madhu, in turn, asked Basavaraj, who contacted Rachana as he knew her.

When after the state government nullified the exam results, Rachana was among scores of candidates who staged a protest at Freedom Park. The CID, which was questioning all successful candidates, summoned her for questioning but she went absconding, a source said.

An additional charge sheet will likely be filed against Rachana depending on the result of the investigation, the source added.