The CB-CID on Tuesday arrested a key accused in the 2017 Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission (TNPSC) Group II scam who was absconding along with four other accused. The prime accused, police constable K Sithandi, attached to Armed Reserve wing in Pudupet in Chennai, was arrested from a relative’s farm in Sivaganga from where he was hiding.

A native of Periyakananoor in Sivaganga, Sithandi had helped four of his relatives secure government jobs through wrongful means. This included his wife S Shanmugapriya and brother K Velmurugan, who reportedly secured the third rank in the Group 2A examination held in 2018. Sithandi is believed to have manipulated answer sheets in exchange for lakhs of money as commission.

Police have arrested Velmurugan, who was serving as an assistant in the Sivaganga District Registrar’s office in Karaikudi, while Shanmugapriya is currently absconding.

According to a report in The Times of India, the CB-CID also arrested MJ Deepak, N Vinod Kumar, Arun Balaji and S Devi, all holding different government posts. While Deepak is an employee of the finance department at the state secretariat, Vinod, Arun Balaji and Devi work at commercial tax department in Vellore, Arcot and Nagercoil, respectively.

The report adds that Sithandi and S Jayakumar, a resident of Chennai who is yet to be nabbed, are the main suspects in this scam. The CB-CID has announced a reward for any person sharing information leading to the arrest of Jayakumar who is also involved in the recent TNPSC Group 4 exam scam.

Just last month, TNPSC had confirmed malpractices by 99 candidates in the Group 4 examinations which was held on September 1, 2019. The Commission had conducted an internal probe after allegations cropped up that many candidates who took the exams in Rameswaram and Keelakarai centres had grabbed top ranks in the Group 4 exams.