In a major turn of events, regarding the Public Service Commission controversy in Kerala, the names of Sivaranjit, Nizam and Pranav – the members of the Students Federation of India (SFI) of the Thiruvananthapuram University College accused of stabbing a fellow student – have been removed from the police constable rank list. The three have also been barred for life from taking the PSC examinations.
According to reports, the action was taken after an internal Vigilance committee discovered major irregularities and malpractices in the police constable examinations of the Kerala PSC in which Sivaranjith had secured the first rank, Pranav secured the second rank and Nizam had secured 27th rank.
Questions were raised regarding the irregularities in the PSC examinations after bundles of Kerala University answer sheets were seized by the police from the house of Sivaranjit, who is the main accused in the stabbing case of an undergraduate student at the University College during clashes. The seizure of answer sheets was followed by the findings that three of the accused were also rank holders in the PSC examinations which had raised eyebrows.
As per a report by The New Indian Express (TNIE), the PSC issued a statement saying that according to the report submitted by their internal vigilance committee on August 5, 2019, it was found that all the three accused have indeed engaged in malpractices during the examinations. As per the TNIE report, the commission will be approaching the Kerala police in order to file a criminal case regarding the matter.
The vigilance committee had also carried out an investigation into the activities of the registered mobile phones of the three candidates with the help of the cyber police and it was discovered that the three had been receiving answers of the examinations via SMS.
According to a report by News18 Malayalam, the Vigilance Committee will also request the police to carry out an investigation into whether any scientific and technological methods have been used to cheat during the PSC examinations and who are the people who have been helping the accused to cheat in the examinations.
21-year-old Akhil, a student of Political Science at the University College as well as an active member of the college SFI unit, was stabbed by the three last month after a scuffle between SFI members turned violent.