The Karnataka Examinations Authority, KEA, had completed the written examination on August 2, 2026, across all districts in Karnataka. The KEW conducted this recruitment drive to fill the 3991 Civil Police Constable vacancies for Male and Female within the Karnataka State Police Department. However, once the exam was completed, there were several reports about the candidates being misled by false and unverified rumours, spreading across social media platforms.
These rumours suggested that the OMR answer sheet serial number and the Question Paper serial number must be similar. To curb the doubts of the candidates who appeared for the Karnataka Police Constable Exam 2026 and to clear the rumours among the aspirants and the general public, the Executive Director of the Karnataka Examinations Authority issued an official statement clearing all these rumours, as per the media sources. There are also several reports as per media sources that at one of the exam centre in Karnataka's Vijayapura District, protest took place following the conduct of the Civil Police Constable Recruitment exam 2026. Hunderds of candidates walked out of the test centre, naming delays in the distribution of the question paper and exam process confusion.
Protests At Vijayapura Exam Centre
The protest was held at Sharadamba PU College in Tikota, Vijaypura, where candidates have claimed that the question papers scheduled for distribution at 10:30 AM were handed nearly 30 minutes late. Candidates have also claimed that the invigilators across different exam centre followed inconsistent distribution procedures, leading to widespread confusion among the test-takers.
Karnataka Police Constable Exam 2026 Official Guidelines on OMR Sheets and Question Paper
In the official clarification from the Executive Director of the Karnataka Examinations Authority, it was clearly stated that it was never mentioned in the official recruitment notification, candidates' instructions booklet or any such verbal instructions were given at the exam centres that the sheet number of the OMR and the Question Papers numbers must match.
Candidates were required to follow the standard process on their OMR sheets during the exam. The official OMR sheet included specific, dedicated sections where applicants must correctly mark the answer for the question asked on the question paper. The candidates were required to follow the process while filling their OMR Sheets:-
- Correctly fill in the Question Paper series code
- Version code
- Candidates registration number or roll number as given on the admit card.
There was no strict rule, guideline, or any kind of requirement under the Karnataka Examination Authority SOP’s (Standard Operating Procedures) that the serial numbers on the OMR sheet and question paper booklet should match.
KEA Requests Candidates to Remain Alert Against Misleading Information
The misleading information spreading across social media platforms has caused unnecessary panic among candidates during and after the recruitment exam for the Karnataka Police Constable exam 2026. The KEA Executive Director has also requested that candidates who appeared for the exam, parents, and the general public not share false rumours or misleading information about the exam process, unless verified from the official website.
KEA has repeated that the evaluation process of the exam and processing will be completely based on the correct answers marked by the candidates on the Question Paper Series Code and version code. Mismatched serial number between the question paper and OMR sheet will have zero negative impact on a candidate's score or result.
Details Regarding the CPC Recruitment Results: Candidates Should Know About
Those candidates who appeared for the Karnataka Civil Police Constable Exam 2026 are advised to only trust the official press release notices published on the official website, i.e., cetonline.karnataka.gov.in/kea. Following the conduct of the written exam, KEA will move to the next stage of releasing the official answer key and opening the objection window for the candidates to raise objections.
Candidates are advised to ignore and not to trust any unauthorised rumours or information circulating on social media and wait for official updates from KEA.