TSPSC paper leak investigation uncovers illicit profits

Hyderabad: The Special Investigation Team (SIT), which has been investigating the TSPSC paper leak case, has discovered that a total of Rs. 1.63 crore was involved in the buying and selling of various exam papers. On Friday, the v filed a preliminary charge sheet in the local court regarding the paper leak case. Currently, 49 suspects have been arrested in connection with the case, while one individual, currently residing in New Zealand, remains at large, as informed by officials to the court. Out of the arrested suspects, 16 are mediators, and three candidates were apprehended for engaging in malpractice during the AEE exam by using a battery-operated device. All the material evidence seized during the suspects’ arrests has been sent to the Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) for examination, and expert opinions have been obtained.

According to the SIT authorities, the investigation has revealed that the main suspect P. Praveen Kumar, an ex-Assistant Section Officer and Personal Assistant to the Secretary of TSPSC, colluded with A. Raja Shekar, an outsourcing employee, to gain unauthorized access to the confidential section’s computer. They copied the question papers of Group-I, AEE, and AE exams onto their pen drives and shared these leaked papers with several candidates through intermediaries in order to make illicit profits.

After the paper leak incident came to light, the Begum Bazaar police registered a case in March of this year. The government then formed a SIT headed by ACP A. Srinivas to investigate the matter.