The Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) has arrested another suspect allegedly involved in leaking the Punjab Public Service Commission (PPSC) examination papers.The suspect, Owais, is the cousin of another suspect Waqar Akram, Junior Data Entry Operator at the PPSC. Moreover, before Owais, his brother, Usman, was also arrested for his alleged involvement.
Both the suspects had changed 11 mobile phones from October to December, the ACE officials said, adding that the probe into the matter was still underway.As many as 103,487 candidates had applied for the competitive examination against the advertised 58 lucrative posts in the Punjab Revenue Department.
In the first week of January, ACE had said that one of the suspects, arrested in connection with leaking of PPSC’s exam, has transferred files to a USB device.The authority had arrested four suspects “red-handed just two hours before the exams for 58 Tehsildars posts were scheduled to be conducted”.
ACE officials said that the investigation revealed that Waqar would steal exam papers and transfer the files to a USB drive. “Out of the four people arrested in relation to the scandal, two of them are important members of the gang.”
While Akram stole exam papers, Ghazanfar, his accomplice and an employee in the commission’s finance department, would sell them. Ghazanfar is also a law student at Punjab University.
The authority said it recovered candidates’ roll number slips, past papers, and cash from the accused’s room. An M.Phil student, Gohar Ali, has also been detained in the case while a clerk, named Umar Farooq, was fired after allegations of corruption against him were proven.
On December 26, candidates staged a protest outside the PPSC examination centres, alleging that serious errors had taken place in the exam and that the paper was leaked beforehand.A candidate appearing for the position of lecturer said that jobs for the profession had already been handed out to people. “By holding examinations, the [PPSC] is only doing a formality,” he said.
The test was held on December 20, following which a number of candidates took to Twitter to highlight their grievances and demanded that PPSC authorities look into the issue.A day ago, Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar constituted an inquiry committeeto investigate the Punjab Public Service Commission (PPSC) exam paper leak.
The committee, led by CM’s Inspection Team (CMIT) chairperson Ali Murtaza, has been tasked to submit report in five days.”The PPSC is a national organisation and nobody will be allowed to play with its reputation,” the Punjab CM said.
“The CMIT team will expose the elements who are involved in paper leak scandal,” he said, adding that officials supporting the gang responsible for the paper leak will also be brought to book and the PPSC’s reputation protected.
