SIT questions IAS officer in Telangana paper leak case
A police official privy to the development said the SIT official questioned the IAS officer on how the TSPSC conducted various recruitment tests in the last one year, and the methods adopted to maintain the secrecy of the question papers
Hyderabad
The Special Investigation Team (SIT) of Hyderabad police probing the leakage of question papers of various recruitment tests conducted by the Telangana State Public Service Commission (TSPSC) on Saturday questioned senior IAS officer and secretary of the commission Anita Ramachandran related to the alleged scam.
The SIT on Thursday issued summons to Ramachandran under Section 160 of the Criminal Procedure Code asking her to appear before the inquiry officer – additional commissioner of police (crimes) A R Srinivas.
A police official privy to the development said the SIT official questioned the IAS officer on how the TSPSC conducted various recruitment tests in the last one year, and the methods adopted to maintain the secrecy of the question papers.
“The investigating officer also asked Ramachandran who was responsible for the custody of the examination papers and how the question papers could have been leaked,” the police official said.
According to the official, the entire confidential wing of the TSPSC will be under the control of the Secretary, who is responsible for the preparation of the question papers and preserving them in safe custody. “She is being primarily questioned as to where the lapses happened that led to the leakage of question papers,” he said.
More importantly, the SIT authorities made inquiries about Pulidindi Praveen Kumar, working as assistant section officer in TSPSC, the prime accused in the case, who had worked as personal assistant to the Secretary when the question paper leakage scam took place.
The SIT questioned Ramachandran as to why Kumar was not shifted from his duties despite knowing that he had appeared for Group-I (prelims) examination and secured 103 out of 150 marks, the official said.
“The SIT authorities had recovered the master question paper from the computer of Kumar, who has since been arrested and in judicial custody,” the police official quoted above said.
Meanwhile, the SIT authorities also questioned TSPSC board member Linga Reddy, who appeared before the investigating officer on Saturday, following notices issued to him on Friday. “The SIT recorded his statement on the involvement of his personal assistant Damera Ramesh Kumar, who had earlier worked as a data entry operator in the TSPSC. Ramesh, who was arrested in the case, is also presently in judicial custody,” the official said.
The SIT authorities have so far arrested 15 people in the TSPSC question paper leak case and more arrests are expected as they are digging deep into the case. “The SIT is focussing on the involvement of insiders in the TSPSC. It is also likely to issue notices to TSPSC chairman B Janardhan Reddy in a day or two,” the official added.
