Protests continue over TSPSC exam paper leak

Hyderabad, March 15 (IANS) Tension prevailed at the office of Telangana State Public Service Commission (TSPSC) here on Wednesday as various political parties, youth and student organisations continued their protests for a second day over leakage of question paper of an exam conducted recently.

Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) workers marched to the TSPSC office in Nampally to stage a protest.

Police stopped the protesters, which led to a heated argument between the two sides.

As the agitating protesters tried to barge into the TSPSC premises, the police swung into action and detained them.

The protesters demanded stringent action against those involved in the leakage of question papers for the exam conducted for recruitment to the posts of Assistant Engineer in various departments

The Aam Admi Party's (AAP) students' wing also tried to stage protest at TSPSC office. But the police detained the protesters and shifted them to police station.

The protesters demanded resignation of TSPSC chairman Janardhan Reddy.

Student groups, including PDSU and PYL, also staged protests in Khammam over question paper leakage. They alleged that injustice was being done to unemployed youth who had appeared in the exam after working hard. They demanded probe by a sitting judge.

Police on Monday arrested nine accused including two employees of TSPSC and a police constable.

A city court on Tuesday sent the accused to judicial custody for 14 days.

Hyderabad police on Tuesday transferred the paper leakage case to the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of Central Crime Station (CCS).

Police Commissioner C. V. Anand issued an order, transferring the case from Begumbazar Police Station to SIT CCS.

Additional Commissioner of Police, crimes and SIT, will supervise the investigation.

Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan on Tuesday directed TSPSC to submit a report within 48 hours on the question paper leak.

ATSPSC chairman Janardhan Reddy has said that they will take legal opinion on whether to cancel the exam or not.

The TSPSC had conducted the examination on March 5 for 833 vacancies of Assistant Engineer, Municipal Assistant Engineer, Technical Officer, and Junior Technical Officer in various engineering departments. A total of 55,000 candidates had written the exam.

Meanwhile, state BJP president Bandi Sanjay found fault with the government for handing over the case to SIT. He alleged that the state government is trying to shield the culprits. He said no major case was properly investigated by SIT.

Sanjay said a probe by only the sitting judge can bring out the facts in the case. He condemned non-bailable cases booked against BJYM workers for staging protests at the TSPSC office.