Bengaluru, Jan 24 (IANS): Expressing outrage over the leak of the first division assistant examination question paper, for which 14 persons have been arrested, Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa on Sunday warned any official of the Karnataka Public Service Commission found guilty would be sacked.

"I am not only ready to suspend the officials involved in the leak of question papers, but also dismiss them from service if found guilty," Yediyurappa told reporters here.

The KPSC on Saturday cancelled the twin exams, which were to be held on Sunday across the state for 1,114 FDA posts.

"Stringent action will be taken against the guilty involved in the case, as leaking questions papers is an unpardonable act and a crime," the Chief Minister said.

According to KPSC Secretary G. Satyavathi, a whopping 3,74,000 candidates applied for the posts and 2,82,000 downloaded their hall ticket to appear for the exams in two sessions -- general knowledge in the morning and language proficiency in the afternoon.

On a tip-off, Central Crime Branch sleuths first arrested six accused, including kingpins Rachappa and Chandru in the city on Saturday and filed a case against them. They had allegedly sold the question papers for Rs 50 lakh to Rs 1 crore to many of the job aspirants.

Chandru is reported to be an inspector in the state Commercial Tax Department.

The CCB arrested eight more persons, including some KPSC officials, on Sunday under various sections of the Indian Penal Code for the paper leakage.

Joint Commissioner of Police, Crime, Sandeep Patil said in a statement that eight more were arrested after their names were revealed by the kingpins during preliminary investigation earlier in the day.

The CCB sleuths also recovered copies of the question papers, Rs 24 lakh in cash and three vehicles from the two kingpins in a raid conducted on their premises on Saturday night.

The KPSC informed the candidates through SMS that the exams on Sunday were cancelled and would be held at a later date.