TNPSC scam: accused re-marked scripts in a moving vehicle and replaced them
Record clerk Omkanthan hoodwinked escort team to aid offender
27/01/2020, S. VIJAY KUMAR,CHENNAI
The Crime Branch CID of the Tamil Nadu police on Sunday arrested H. Omkanthan, 45, a TNPSC record clerk, for allegedly handing over the key to a safe containing answer script bundles to prime suspect Jayakumar of Chennai, who made fresh entries on select papers and replaced them at an opportune time. The police searched Omkanthan’s premises and seized a couple of mobile phones.
Investigators said the accused, in a midnight operation, took away the answer scripts of the TNPSC Group-IV Services examination from a vehicle and tampered with them, before replacing them.
Investigation revealed that Jayakumar had approached Omkanthan, seeking his help to access the answer scripts, and had offered him ₹15 lakh as a bribe. After taking ₹2 lakh as an advance, the clerk managed to get himself posted in Ramanathapuram district for examination duty on September 1, 2019.
Omkanthan was part of a team also comprising another TNPSC employee, Manickavel, and a police constable entrusted with transporting the answer scripts from the Sivaganga treasury to the TNPSC headquarters in Chennai in a parcel vehicle. After collecting the sealed bundles of answer scripts around 8 p.m., the team left for Chennai, and Jayakumar followed it in another vehicle.
At 10.30 p.m., the team stopped for dinner. While the others were in the restaurant, Omkanthan handed over the key to the safe to Jayakumar, who took select bundles away in his car. During the next few hours, he made fresh entries on the answer scripts of candidates from whom he had taken money. However, he could mark answers only on 39 answer scripts owing to time constraints.
When the escort team stopped near Vikravandi for tea, Jayakumar replaced the bundles, returned the key to Omkanthan and fled. The record clerk was aware that some candidates had used evaporative ink to mark answers, and that Jayakumar had made fresh entries.
The answer scripts reached the TNPSC headquarters shortly after noon. The offence took place in the intervening night of September 1 and 2, 2019 along the Sivaganga-Chennai national highway.
While a search is on for Jayakumar, a special team has arrested A. Balasundaraj, 45, of Seelayampatti in Theni district, who was a middleman in the scam.
Parrying questions on whether the TNPSC staff had checked the seal on the safe and the answer script bundles when they received the consignment, a CB-CID official said the investigation had revealed that both the seals were tampered with. The statement of the accused would further be corroborated with technical evidence, he said.
The CB-CID has so far arrested 9 persons, including three candidates, in connection with the scam. Investigation is on to determine who leaked the question paper to the prime suspect.
Candidates in soup
Sources in the investigation agency said all the 99 candidates who had paid for clearing the examination fraudulently and had used the pens with evaporative ink provided by the accused would have to face action, irrespective of whether or not they had passed.
Record clerk Omkanthan hoodwinked escort team to aid offender
27/01/2020, S. VIJAY KUMAR,CHENNAI
The Crime Branch CID of the Tamil Nadu police on Sunday arrested H. Omkanthan, 45, a TNPSC record clerk, for allegedly handing over the key to a safe containing answer script bundles to prime suspect Jayakumar of Chennai, who made fresh entries on select papers and replaced them at an opportune time. The police searched Omkanthan’s premises and seized a couple of mobile phones.
Investigators said the accused, in a midnight operation, took away the answer scripts of the TNPSC Group-IV Services examination from a vehicle and tampered with them, before replacing them.
Investigation revealed that Jayakumar had approached Omkanthan, seeking his help to access the answer scripts, and had offered him ₹15 lakh as a bribe. After taking ₹2 lakh as an advance, the clerk managed to get himself posted in Ramanathapuram district for examination duty on September 1, 2019.
Omkanthan was part of a team also comprising another TNPSC employee, Manickavel, and a police constable entrusted with transporting the answer scripts from the Sivaganga treasury to the TNPSC headquarters in Chennai in a parcel vehicle. After collecting the sealed bundles of answer scripts around 8 p.m., the team left for Chennai, and Jayakumar followed it in another vehicle.
At 10.30 p.m., the team stopped for dinner. While the others were in the restaurant, Omkanthan handed over the key to the safe to Jayakumar, who took select bundles away in his car. During the next few hours, he made fresh entries on the answer scripts of candidates from whom he had taken money. However, he could mark answers only on 39 answer scripts owing to time constraints.
When the escort team stopped near Vikravandi for tea, Jayakumar replaced the bundles, returned the key to Omkanthan and fled. The record clerk was aware that some candidates had used evaporative ink to mark answers, and that Jayakumar had made fresh entries.
The answer scripts reached the TNPSC headquarters shortly after noon. The offence took place in the intervening night of September 1 and 2, 2019 along the Sivaganga-Chennai national highway.
While a search is on for Jayakumar, a special team has arrested A. Balasundaraj, 45, of Seelayampatti in Theni district, who was a middleman in the scam.
Parrying questions on whether the TNPSC staff had checked the seal on the safe and the answer script bundles when they received the consignment, a CB-CID official said the investigation had revealed that both the seals were tampered with. The statement of the accused would further be corroborated with technical evidence, he said.
The CB-CID has so far arrested 9 persons, including three candidates, in connection with the scam. Investigation is on to determine who leaked the question paper to the prime suspect.
Candidates in soup
Sources in the investigation agency said all the 99 candidates who had paid for clearing the examination fraudulently and had used the pens with evaporative ink provided by the accused would have to face action, irrespective of whether or not they had passed.
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