A fresh scam has hit the Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission (TNPSC) with the Crime Branch CID of the Tamil Nadu police arresting a Village Administrative Officer (VAO) on charges of paying money and passing the examination held in 2016.
A source in the investigating agency told The Hindu on Thursday that evidence had surfaced pointing to at least five VAOs who adopted fraudulent means to clear the examination. The examination was conducted on February 14, 2016, to fill up 813 vacancies of VAOs in Tamil Nadu Ministerial Service.
The objective type examination was held covering General Studies, Basics in Village Administration, Aptitude & Mental Ability Test and General Tamil/English in centres located across the State.
“We have arrested one suspect (a serving VAO) who admitted to have paid money to pass the examination. Special teams are on the lookout for four others. There is a possibility that many other candidates (VAOs) would have passed the examination with the help of middlemen,” a senior investigator said.
Suspect surrenders
Meanwhile the prime suspect in the recruitment scam, S. Jayakumar of Mogappair who remained elusive surrendered in a city court on Thursday. He was remanded in judicial custody for 14 days.
Sources in the CB-CID said that a petition would be filed to take custody of the suspect for interrogation.