Probe finds 15 TSPSC questions papers allegedly leaked

The probe into the TSPSC paper leak allegations found that 15 question papers of different examinations held since last year were stored in a pen drive of the accused

The probe into the Telangana State Public Service Commission (TSPSC) question paper leak reportedly stumbled upon shocking evidence that as many as 15 competitive examination papers were allegedly leaked by Pulidindi Praveen Kumar, the prime accused working in the Commission.

Days after the arrest of nine persons in connection with the leak, the Government constituted a SIT headed by Additional CP Crimes A.R. Srinivas.

Sources said in their preliminary investigation into the sensational case it was found that 15 question papers of different examinations held since last year were stored in the HP pen drive of the accused. This has given rise to suspicion that Mr. Kumar might have leaked all these papers, sources pointed out.

High placed sources told The Hindu on Friday that the question papers were taken from some confidential source and were in raw format. “The papers do not have the first page, which usually contains the instructions,” the source said, pointing out that Mr. Kumar might have leaked these papers.

“The raw copies of the question papers without the instructions were found stored in his pen drive,” the sources maintained. They disclosed that presence of raw copies of the papers in the pen drive gives doubt about leakage of earlier papers too.

The following question papers were allegedly found in Praveen Kumar’s pen drive: General Studies Paper (exam held 16-10-2022); AEE Civil Engineering Paper (22-01-2023); AEE Electrical Engineering Paper (22-01-2023); AEE Mechanical Engineering Paper (22-01-2023); DAO General Studies Paper 1 (26-02-2023); DAO Maths (26-02-2023); General Studies Diploma AE Paper 1 (05-03-2023); Civil Engineering Diploma AE Paper (05-03-2023); Mechanical Engineering Diploma AE Paper (05-03-2023); Electrical Engineering Diploma AE Paper (05-03-2023); Mechanical Engineering Diploma AE Paper 2 (05-03-2023); Civil Engineering Diploma AE Paper 2 (05-03-2023); TPBO Vocational General Studies Paper 1 (12-03-2023 – TSPSC postponed the exam); TPBO Intermediate Vocational Paper 2 12-03-2023 (Postponed); Junior Lecturers Question Papers June/July/2023 (Tentative)

Another crucial point that came to the notice of the officials during inspection of the computer of the accused was that the IP address of another Commission staff Shanker Laxmi’s desktop was mapped to the accused’s Dell desktop as early as October last year.