ON SUNDAY, August 23, 2026, the Enforcement Directorate raided the residence of IAS Gyanendra Kumar Gangwar in Karnataka in relation to the Karnataka Public Service Commission (KPSC) Examination recruitment scam. The raids followed a two-day search for the IAS officer by the authorities, who was reportedly untraceable. On Saturday, August 22, Karnataka Home Minister Priyank Kharge claimed that Gangwar was in his hometown in Uttar Pradesh due to a medical emergency in his family. 

Kharge claimed that he was aware of the reports of Gangwar being absent for the past few days but no formal missing complaint was recorded from his family. The Home Minister claims they were verifying his whereabouts for the past days before confirming it to the authorities. He also clarified that the reports of Gangwar being missing in relation to the KPSC scam were not established at the time. However, ED conducted their raids in Gangwar’s house, raising questions over his involvement in the alleged cash-for-job scam.

Who Is IAS Gyanendra Kumar Gangwar?

Gyanendra Kumar Gangwar, born in 1985, is a 2016-batch Indian Administrative Service officer of the Karnataka Cadre. According to publicly available data, he is a resident of Uttar Pradesh. He has a B.Tech. degree in Electrical Engineering from IIT Kanpur and was selected for the IAS through the direct-recruitment route.

Gangwar is currently serving as the Director, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) in the Commerce and Industries Department, Bengaluru. Earlier, he was the Joint Managing Director of the Karnataka Urban Water Supply and Drainage Board (KUWSDB), Bengaluru, before he was posted in his current role as part of Karnataka government’s bureaucratic shuffle in June 2026. His deployment in the Water Supply board in January 2024, was among the most significant postings in his career before the MSME Director.

Apart from the recent postings, Gangwar has also worked in other field and administrative assignments. He was the Chief Executive Officer, Zilla Panchayat, Bidar till February 2021. He was then transferred to Administrative Training Institute (ATI), Mysuru as Training Joint Director. According to publicly available information, Gangwar also worked as Assistant Secretary in the Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises earlier in his career.

See Also: CID Arrests Ex-JPSC Chairman L. Khiangte: Retired IAS Officer Allegedly Gave Exam Contract to Blacklisted Company for ₹2-Crore Bribe

What Is the KPSC Exam Recruitment Scam?

In July 2026, the aspirants of public services exams in Karnataka alleged a large-scale cash-for-job scam. They claimed that middlemen demanded ₹70-80 lakh for recruitment in the public sector. Some accounts even claimed that ₹1 crore were demanded, seeking ₹40 lakh in advance cash payment. More allegations of exam paper irregularities, paper leak, and nepotism in recruitment also emerged leading to an FIR in the Vidhana Soudha police station. At the time, the complainants alleged fraudulent recruitments of 400 veterinary officers by paying off bribes. 

The case was then transferred to the Central Investigation Department (CID) followed by the money laundering investigation by the Enforcement Directorate. IAS Gyanendra Kumar Gangwar was the controller of examination of KPSC, linking him to the case.

When ED raided his house on August 23, 2026, he was not at home and more details from the visit have not yet emerged. He is the second senior officer raided in relation to the case after chairman Shivashankarappa S Sahukar was subjected to similar visits to his house.

According to Times of India sources, the authorities found that a couple more IAS officers were also living in the same residential complex. ED has not issued any official statement about the raids at IAS Gangwar’s home so far.

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