Hyderabad: The Special Investigation Team (SIT) of Hyderabad Police probing the leak of question papers of the State Public Service Commission on Friday filed a charge sheet in the case.
A press release from the city police said as of now 49 accused individuals have been arrested in connection with the case, while one person, currently residing in New Zealand, is still at large.
16 mediators and 13 candidates were among those apprehended.
The total money transacted in the buying and selling of various TSPSC question papers is Rs 1.63 crore, it said.
“All the material evidences seized during the arrest of the accused persons were sent to the Central Forensic Science Laboratory, Ramanthapur, and experts opinion obtained. Legal opinion is obtained and the preliminary charge sheet has been filed today in the Hon’ble jurisdictional Court,” the release said.
During the course of the investigation, it was revealed that the prime accused Pulidindi Praveen Kumar, an Assistant Section Officer (ASO) and (PA) to the Secretary of TSPSC, along with Atla Raja Shekar, an outsourcing employee working as a System/Network Administrator in TSPSC, conspired and gained unauthorized access to the confidential section’s computer which stored and compiled question papers for various exams.
They downloaded/copied the question papers of Group – I, DAO, AEE, and AE exams onto their pendrives. Subsequently, they shared these question papers with multiple candidates through intermediaries to make illicit profits.
Furthermore, three candidates were apprehended for engaging in malpractice during the AEE exam using battery-operated devices.
The TSPSC March 15 cancelled the Assistant Engineers (AE) exam held on March 5, following allegations that the question paper had been leaked.
Amid massive protests by Congress, BJP and other opposition parties and student groups over the leakage of a question paper of a recruitment test, the TSPSC had earlier cancelled the Group-I Preliminary Examination and other recruitment tests.
The Enforcement Directorate too had registered an ‘Enforcement Case Information Report’ (ECIR) in connection with the case.
(With inputs from agencies.)
| Posted by Marziya Sharif | 
