Shivakumaraiah, the kingpin of the paper leak racket, and three of his associates have been booked under the Karnataka Control of Organised Crime Act. The Central Crime Branch police, while investigating the Civil Police Constable written examination leak, discovered that he was running a crime syndicate.
This is the second time that Shivakumaraiah, 67, has been booked under the KCOCA. In 2016, the CID invoked the same Act against him after he was arrested for leaking the second pre-university chemistry question paper.
According to CCB officials, the kingpin and another accused Basavaraj Hanumanthappa, 40, were arrested in November. Shivakumaraiah’s close aide, Basavaraju, was arrested on Friday.
The fourth accused, Ameer Ahmed, 38, from Davanagere who is a close contact of Shivakumaraiah, is on the run. The KCOCA was invoked against all four on Tuesday.
The accused allegedly have a well-established network involving owners of tutorials and middlemen who distribute leaked question papers for a price. In the Civil Police Constable written examination case, they had allegedly bribed a security guard in the press where the papers were being printed.
“The KCOCA will prevent them from securing bail for at least one year,” said a senior police officer.
