DMK President MK Stalin has demanded a CBI probe into the recruitment malpractices in Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission (TNPSC) Group 4 examination. He said the inquiry should be conducted under the guidance of a sitting judge of the Madras High Court.
The TNPSC, on 24 January, said it has banned 99 persons from writing its recruitment exams for life, for indulging in malpractices.
A criminal case has been registered against the 99 scamsters and the suspect middlemen who were involved in the exam scam, said TNPSC.
Preliminary reports revealed that 35 candidates in the top 100 rankers in the list were from only two districts in Tamil Nadu, Rameswaram and Keelakarai.
No Re-Examination
A probe has revealed that 99 persons, on the advice of middlemen, had opted for these two exam centres specifically. They had used a type of ink, that would vanish in sometime. Later, with the help of faculty and middlemen, the correct answers were marked and evaluated.
According to TNPSC, the exam for 9,398 vacancies under Group IV category was held on 1 September 2019 and a total of 16,29,865 aspirants had written the exam.
A complaint was later made to TNPSC that these 99 persons were from different places but picked only these two districts as their exam centres.
TNPSC has said that it would first verify the answer sheets of all 497 candidates who have qualified.
Stalin issued a statement where he stated that in order to ensure a free and fair probe, D Jayakumar, Minister for Personnel and Administrative Reforms, should be removed from his post.
Meanwhile, Jayakumar has promised action against all those involved in the scam.
He also said on Wednesday that re-examination would not be conducted as it would be unfair to the other candidates who wrote the exam through fair practices.
“Malpractice has taken place in only two centres and the TNPSC must not be discredited as the exams were carried out in a fair manner. People must not lose trust in it,” he told.
CB-CID Arrested 12 Persons
CB-CID officials on Wednesday arrested a police officer from Sivagangai district, reported News 18.
So far, the CB-CID has arrested 12 persons and one of them is H Omkanthan, a TNPSC record clerk. The prime suspect in the case is Jayakumar, who allegedly gave Omkanthan a bribe of Rs 15 lakh, to change the answers.
Unfolding the Scam
More than 13 lakh candidates appeared for the TNPSC Group IV examination on 1 September 2019.
The van carrying the answer sheets left for Chennai the same night. According to the News 18 report. Jayakumar had followed the van and caught up with it when the vehicle stopped at 10:30 pm for dinner.
Omkanthan then gave the keys of the van to Jayakumar. He then took the answer sheets, marked the right answers while traveling in the van and then managed to escape when the vehicle stopped for tea early morning.
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