The Karnataka Police, investigating alleged irregularities by the Karnataka Public Service Commission (KPSC) in the veterinary doctors’ recruitment process, have identified 12 aspirants who made payments to facilitate cheating in the examination held on January 8 and 9.The development comes following 10 days of interrogation of former KPSC controller of exams Gyanendra Kumar Gangwar and middleman Basavaraj Kannale, arrested in connection with the anomalies in the KPSC’s examination process to recruit 400 veterinary doctors for the state government, said a source.The Crime Investigation Department (CID) wing of the state police has also traced Rs 80 lakh in payments made by the aspirants through bank transfers to Kannale for facilitating cheating, sources said.The money traced in bank accounts is suspected to be part of nearly Rs 10 crore payments received by Kannale at the rate of Rs 30 lakh to Rs 80 lakh from 24 aspirants.Gyanendra Kumar Gangwar and Kannale, arrested on August 29 in Bengaluru and Delhi, respectively, are alleged to have masterminded the examination scam. The two were remanded in judicial custody on Wednesday as their 10 days of police custody ended.“We are continuing the investigation of aspirants to identify more persons who may have participated in the KPSC’s veterinary doctors recruitment fraud,” said a source.Also read | ‘Public losing faith in exam system’: No advance bail for suspended Karnataka PSC chiefAccording to the FIR, 29 aspirants who scored poorly in college exams scored unusually high marks in the range of 450 plus (out of 500) in the entrance exam. As many as 1,400 aspirants wrote the exam for 400 vacancies of veterinary doctors in the state animal husbandry department at three centres in Bengaluru, and 329 were selected.Story continues below this adThe scam came to light following a complaint filed by Dr Manjunath, a veterinary doctor who was not selected.The CID investigations have already found that the then KPSC controller of exams selectively leaked the exam question papers to the “paid” candidates through Kannale, a day ahead of the exams.The leaked papers were provided to select aspirants housed at resorts around Bengaluru, where they were also trained by middlemen to answer the exam. The middlemen themselves allegedly dropped aspirants from resorts to the exam centres on the day of the exam.The CID probe has found that the middlemen made the first approach to candidates after being provided details of aspirants who had applied for the veterinary doctor posts through the KPSC.Story continues below this ad“All communications between the involved parties were carried out through encrypted channels, ensuring confidentiality and security. It appears that the question papers were provided to the candidates in both handwritten and printed formats,” CID sources said.“The mediators took responsibility for coordinating transport, including collecting and dropping off the candidates,” they added.The CID probe has found the details of the locations where aspirants got the leaked question papers,including a resort at Devanahalli on the outskirts of Bengaluru, and the bank accounts to which candidates made payments.“A link has been established between Gyanendra Gangwar and others who are accused based on IPDR (Internet Protocol Detail Record) analysis before and after the veterinary exam,” sources said.Story continues below this adThe CID has issued lookout notices for missing suspects in the case, such as the KPSC member Shantha Hosamani, who is alleged to have canvassed some of the aspirants.The now-suspended KPSC chairman, Sahukar S Shivashankarappa, in another fraud, is also under investigation for the veterinarians exam fraud.Shivashankarappa’s anticipatory bail pleas have been rejected by the Karnataka High Court and a special court, as there was prima facie evidence of connections and communication between the suspended KPSC chairman, his family members, and the arrested middleman.