VIJAYAWADA: Candidates who have taken the APPSC Group 2 examination are in a dilemma as the AP Administrative Tribunal (APAT) ordered the commission to withhold the results until the issue of question paper leakage is solved. Meanwhile, APPSC officials are still carrying out investigation on the candidates suspected of malpractice, captured in the CCTV footage at the examination centres.Speaking to Express, N Manasa, a Group 2 aspirant, said, “I worked hard for the examination. Securing a government job is my ambition. Now, with all these incidents, I have no idea whether the exam will be validated or cancelled or any re-test will be conducted. It will be great if the officials come up with a decision and clear all our tension.”
Despite the leakage of question papers, the officials had decided to release the results by the month-end. But with the stay order from the tribunal, the candidates are confused whether the results will be out or the examination will be cancelled. For the first time, the examination was held online, which created a lot of fuss at some centres, thereby resulting in the leakage of question papers. Because of all the chaos, some candidates approached the tribunal seeking cancellation of the examination.
However, the officials got hold of the CCTV footage at the examination centres and have started an investigation. From CCTV footage that was obtained from the examination centre at Visakhapatnam, it was observed that some candidates left the examination hall and returned during the examination. Except for their papers, all others papers of the examination have been validated.Around 159 candidates have been identified for cheating so far based on the video recordings at Gitam College in Visakhapatnam, where the server disrupted during the examination and using that incident as an excuse, many candidates indulged in malpractice.
All these candidates underwent a one-on-one interrogation from September 7 to September 16.
The officials also identified some other candidates in Chittoor district, where the investigation is still going on. Two days extension was also granted to candidates who missed the interrogation.