Published Aug 22, 2026 | 5:32 PM ⚊ Updated Aug 22, 2026 | 6:05 PM
Gyanendra Kumar Gangwar.
Synopsis: After remaining “unreachable” for two days, IAS officer Gyanendra Kumar Gangwar, on Saturday, contacted the state government, saying that he had to leave for his hometown to attend to a family emergency. Home Minister Priyank Kharge said the confusion arose because the officer remained unreachable on his official mobile phone.
Ending speculations, a “missing” IAS officer on Saturday, 22 August, contacted the Karnataka government, saying he had travelled urgently to his hometown to attend to a family emergency.
The Karnataka police were searching for the 2016-batch IAS officer, Gyanendra Kumar Gangwar, when he contacted the government on Saturday. He had been “unreachable” since Thursday, 20 August.
Informing that the officer has been located, Home Minister Priyank Kharge said he had applied for leave earlier. However, he was unreachable on his official phone during this period, leading to confusion and speculation about his whereabouts, the minister added.
Earlier, police found that Gangwar had boarded an IndiGo flight to Delhi from the Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru around 3 pm on 20 August. After reaching the Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi around 6 pm, he took a cab.
Incidentally, despite the confusion surrounding his disappearance, Gangwar’s family had not lodged a man-missing complaint.
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Gangwar going incommunicado had sparked curiosity in the state, as he previously served as the Controller of Examinations at the Karnataka Public Service Commission (KPSC).
The KPSC has been under probe following allegations of recruitment irregularities. No connection has been established so far between his disappearance and the investigation.
