Bengaluru: CID sleuths launched searches at the Bengaluru residence of suspended Karnataka Public Service Commission chairman Shivashankarappa S Sahukar in connection with alleged recruitment irregularities, police sources said on Tuesday.

The searches at his residence in Dollars Colony along with his relatives' premises were carried out, they said.

The searches that began on Monday were continuing, they added.

The searches come a day after the Karnataka High Court rejected Sahukar’s anticipatory bail plea in the case, observing that such activities must end and that the allegations pointed to a “systematic fraud”.

The court had also said people were “completely losing faith in the system” and questioned what would happen to meritorious students if such irregularities continued.

According to sources, the CID is examining alleged manipulation of examination records and OMR sheets, payments to middlemen and other irregularities in the recruitment process. Investigators are also probing the alleged role of Sahukar and other accused.

The CID has already arrested IAS officer Gyanendra Kumar Gangwar, former KPSC Controller of Examinations, and Basavaraj Kannale, an alleged middleman, in connection with the case.

The agency is probing the recruitment of 400 Veterinary Officers -- 342 regular and 58 backlog posts -- following a complaint lodged with Vidhana Soudha police on July 24.

Sahukar was suspended by Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot on July 13 amid allegations that he facilitated the illegal selection of his two daughters as Industrial Extension Officers.