The Crime Branch CID has arrested a Deputy Commercial Tax Officer (DCTO) here, in connection with the leaking of a question paper of the Group-II Services examination, conducted by the Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission in 2012.
A special team of the CBCID’s Coimbatore Unit, that is investigating the case, apprehended G. Gnanasekaran (31), who is the Checking Officer at the Chennai Central railway station here. A couple of days after the arrest , the State government, on Monday, placed the official under suspension, agency sources said.
The case pertains to the leaking of a portion of the General Knowledge question paper on August 12, 2012.
A few candidates in Erode and Dharmapuri were found to possess handwritten notes containing the questions, even before the exam commenced. After conducting a preliminary enquiry, the TNPSC cancelled the Group-II examination, in which about six lakh candidates appeared in hundreds of centres across the State. Two different cases were registered in Erode and Dharmapuri.
The CBCID has, so far, arrested 41 persons, mostly school teachers, in connection with the case. Investigation revealed that Gnanasekaran accessed the questions through some of his friends in Andhra Pradesh. He also sold the question paper to a few others, the sources said.
“Besides the statement of the other accused persons indicating the role of Gnanasekaran in the scam, we seized a laptop and incriminating documents from his premises that proved his involvement. The accused cleared the Group-II Services examination held in 2011 and joined the State government as DCTO,” a CBCID official told The Hindu . Since Gnanasekaran was not confident of getting top posts in the Group-II Services, he appeared for the examination in 2012 as well. “After we started making the arrests, the accused official absconded for some time. On specific information that he had returned to work, we arrested him. A few more suspects from Andhra Pradesh and Odisha, wanted in the case, are still absconding,” the official said.
Gnanasekaran was produced in a court in Erode and remanded in judicial custody. As he was also involved in the Dharmapuri case, investigators obtained a warrant from a local court there.
“We will make a formal arrest in the second case soon. He will be taken into custody for further interrogation,” the official added.
Deputy Superintendent of Police (CBCID) T. Rajarajan said investigation was on to ascertain the details of those who bought the question paper from the accused. It was possible that some of them might have cleared the examination and got into service.
The agency would send a detailed report to the government for appropriate action, he said.
