THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The crime branch team probing the PSC exam fraud involving SFI leaders of the University College has sought sanction from the government to prosecute a policeman, who is the fifth accused in the case. The permission seeking prosecution sanction against former SAP Camp civil police officer V M Gokul was moved by the investigation team last month.
The crime branch had found that it was Gokul, along with two others, who sent the answers of the PSC question paper to SFI leaders R Sivarenjith, A N Naseem and P P Pranav. In the examination held for the post of the police constable, Sivarenjith had bagged the first rank and Pranav came second, while Naseem finished 28th.
The fraud came to the fore in 2019 during the probe of the stabbing incident on the University College campus. The SFI leaders, the crime branch had found, were helped by three people, including Gokul, by sending them answers as SMS on their Bluetooth-enabled smartwatch.
Gokul, who had joined the service in 2017, is currently under suspension. The Crime Branch sources said they were yet to receive any intimation from the government regarding their request for prosecution sanction of Gokul.
Meanwhile, efforts are on to drop charges against three cops of SAP Camp for forging documents to make it appear that Gokul had turned up for duty on the PSC exam day. This was done to discredit the crime branch’s findings that Gokul was near the PSC exam centre when the exam fraud took place. The source said pressure is on the investigators to drop charges against the cops and instead make them witnesses in the case.