CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu Public Services Commission (TNPSC), confirming the malpractice in its Group 4 examination conducted last year, said the candidates who cheated used a “special ink” that vanishes a few hours after writing.
The Commission debarred these candidates from appearing for any TNPSC exam for lifetime. In a statement on Friday, TNPSC confirmed the malpractice by 99 candidates in the exam held on September 1, 2019.
The Commission conducted an internal probe earlier this year after allegations cropped up that many candidates who took the exam at Rameswaram and Keelakarai had managed to secure top ranks. Rank list for the exam was released by TNPSC late in December.
According to the Commission, 99 candidates chose to write the exam in Rameswaram and Keelakarai in Ramanathapuram district, based on the advice of certain agents. “Of these candidates, the agents allegedly altered the Optical Mark Recognition sheets of 52 and placed the answer sheet back into the bundles with help from other officials involved,” the statement said, adding that 39 of the 52 examinees found their names in the top 100 rank holders.
TNPSC, however, said that no malpractice has happened in other centres. It also updated the rank list with new names, after removing the names of the 39 accused of malpractice.
These new candidates will soon be called in for certificate verification process, the statement said. An FIR has been registered against the 99 debarred and the agents involved in malpractice. Crime Branch CID of Tamil Nadu police began a probe on Friday.
A formal complaint was registered by the TNPSC to the Director-General of Police, JK Tripathy, who ordered the probe.
On Friday, the DGP, CB-CID, MS Jaffar Sait, reviewed the case and a special team led by the Deputy Superintendent of Police and other senior officers began probing the case.