Crime branch unearths fresh TNPSC scam in Group II A exams, case registered

The Tamil Nadu Crime Branch-CID (CB-CID) has found malpractices in the 2017 Group II A Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission (TNPSC) recruitment exams, even as the state is in the midst of the 2019 Group IV TNPSC exam scam.

According to the police, one of the arrested middleman in the Group IV exam fraud revealed that they carried out similar malpractices during the 2017 Group II A exam.

Following the police investigation, TNPSC officials filed another complaint seeking to investigate the alleged malpractice that happened in 2017.

On Friday (January 31), the Tamil Nadu crime branch registered a case and are probing the matter.

TNPSC had submitted all the details regarding the recruitment process of Group II A exam,  specifying the names of 42 candidates who are under the scanner. Out of the 1,953 people recruited through the TNPSC Group II A exam, about 42 were from Ramanathapuram district.

Recently, based on the allegations of malpractice in TNPSC Group IV exam, the commission conducted a thorough investigation and found that as many as 99 candidates, who wrote the exam in the Keelakarai and Rameshwaran centres of Ramanathapuram district, had approached middlemen for jobs through unethical means.

Following this, a lifetime ban was imposed on all the 99 candidates. It was also learnt that of the 99 candidates, 39 managed to get to the list of top 100.

Also read | TNPSC scam: ‘No age limit’ in Group IV jobs attracts candidates

According to the police, the candidates, who approached the middlemen used evaporative ink pens in exams which would later help the middlemen to tamper with the answer sheets. The CB-CID registered a case on January 24 and launched an official investigation into the matter.

As on Friday, the police arrested 16 people including TNPSC clerk H. Omkanthan, middleman A. Balasundaraj and candidates  M. Thiruvelmurugan, R. Rajasekhar, M. Kalosha, and T. Venkatraman.

However, the search for prime suspect Jayakumar of Anna Nagar, Chennai, who orchestrated the entire scheme is still on. Apart from issuing a lookout notice, the police also announced a reward for those providing giving credible information on Jayakumar.

The TNPSC Group IV exam was held on September 1, 2019 to fill about 6,491 vacancies. As many as 16.29 lakh candidates appeared for the exam in 5,575 centres across the State.