Sahukar Shivashankarappa is is implicated in two fraud cases (Photo: Karnataka PSC. Enhanced using AI).The Enforcement Directorate (ED) Tuesday launched search operations in connection with a money-laundering probe into multiple recruitment scams involving the Karnataka Public Service Commission (KPSC).The searches, conducted under Section 17 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), spanned 21 premises across Karnataka, including Bengaluru, Hassan, Chitradurga, Davanagere, Raichur, Karwar, Kalaburagi, and Belagavi, as well as locations in Ahmedabad.The raids focused on suspended KPSC chairman Sahukar Shivashankarappa, who is implicated in two separate fraud cases,including the illegal appointment of his daughter using a fake income certificate.According to an ED statement, the searches targeted the KPSC headquarters, the residences of Shivashankarappa and member Shanta Hosmani, premises of suspected middlemen, selected candidates for veterinary officer posts, and the offices of Edutest Solutions Pvt Ltd, the firm handling digital evaluation of the examination papers.The ED’s intervention comes amidst an ongoing investigation by the state Criminal Investigation Department (CID) into a scam involving the recruitment of 400 veterinary officers. The high-profile action also arrives just days before the Karnataka High Court is scheduled to hear pleas seeking a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the allegations on August 20.The CID probe stems from a July 25 complaint filed by an aggrieved aspirant, Dr Manjunath, regarding the January 8, 2026, examination for 400 veterinary officer posts in the Animal Husbandry and Fisheries Department. The final selection list was published on July 17.At least 29 candidates allegedly gained unauthorised access to question papers before the competitive test. Several relatives of the chairman, KPSC members, and staff allegedly secured top ranks on the final list.Story continues below this adThe complaint also alleges that a relative of the chairman, Soogresh Jaka, who had previously failed subjects in his degree course, scored over 450 marks in the KPSC entrance exam.Middlemen allegedly contacted candidates post-exam, demanding Rs 80 lakh (with Rs 40 lakh upfront) to manipulate OMR sheets and ensure selection.Shivashankarappa was booked under Section 318(3) (cheating) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Karnataka Public Examination (Measures for Prevention of Corruption and Unfair Means of Recruitment) Act, 2023. His anticipatory bail plea was rejected on August 11.Shivashankarappa was previously suspended by the Karnataka Governor on July 10 following allegations that his daughter secured the position of Industrial Extension Officer under an Other Backward Classes (OBC) quota using a falsified income certificate.Story continues below this adWhile Shivashankarappa maintained during his bail hearing that the allegations are “politically motivated” and denied kinship with the accused candidates, the CID informed the court that forensic analysis of 329 seized OMR sheets is currently underway.Meanwhile, BJP legislator Basanagouda Patil Yatnal and Dr Manjunath have moved separate petitions in the Karnataka High Court seeking a CBI investigation into both scams. While these pleas remain pending, the High Court has granted temporary protection against coercive police action to the 29 candidate-beneficiaries named in the veterinary recruitment case.Appointed in 2021 under the previous B S Yediyurappa-led BJP administration, Shivashankarappa now faces mounting legal trouble as central and state agencies tighten their grip.