One more VAO held in TNPSC scam, total arrests 41

The CB-CID police today arrested a Village Administrative Officer (VAO) in connection with the Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission (TNPSC) scams , taking the total number of arrests two 41.

While 19 people each were arrested in connection with the Group-IV and Group-2A scams, three VAOs' were arrested for clearing the VAO exams in fraudulent manner.

CB-CID sources today arrest Suyamburajan, who is currently posted at Thiruvallur.

He was the third VAO to be arrested in this case.

The sources said, the CB-CID has a list of government staff allegedly involved in the exam scam and more arrests were on the cards.

The CB-CID is investigating the large scale malpractices in TNPSC examinations, including the 2019 Group IV exam, 2017 Group 2A exam and the 2016 VAO exams.

Meanwhile, the main accused Jayakumar have confessed to the crime of tampering with answer sheets.

He is said to have taken Rs 5.83 crore from several candidates who wanted to clear the TNPSC exam through malpractice.

Jayakumar was taken to Rameswaram for an inquiry.

Yesterday, the CB-CID sleuths arrested five people including two VAOs and three drivers.

The drivers, identified as K Karthi and T Senthilkumar of Ennore and Sabudeen of Perambur, were involved in escorting the vehicles carrying answer sheets of 2019 Group IV exam from Rameswaram to Chennai.

The drivers colluded with TNPSC staff Omkanthan, one of the main accused, who was in-charge of transportation and was currently in CB-CID custody, and allowed Jayakumar to tamper with the answer scripts.

Jayakumar had given a special ink pen to the candidates. He later re-marked the answers following which some candidates were listed as rank holders and landed on government jobs.