Bhubaneswar: The Odisha Police Recruitment Board on Tuesday postponed the Sub-Inspector (SI) written examination scheduled for October 5 and 6, after a late-night police operation in Andhra Pradesh exposed what officials are calling an organised malpractice racket.
The decision came hours after the Berhampur police intercepted three buses near Srikakulam on Monday night, detaining over 150 aspirants suspected of being coached with advance access to the question papers for the SI entrance exam, officials said, adding that at least 120 of those held were from Andhra Pradesh.
Senior officials familiar with the matter said that the detained candidates were on their way to Hyderabad, where a “special coaching camp” had allegedly been arranged by the same private agency tasked with conducting the exam. The camp was designed to provide the question paper and answer keys ahead of time, followed by intensive practice sessions, before candidates were quietly ferried back to Odisha to sit for the test.
“This was not routine malpractice. It was a structured operation involving large sums of money collected from candidates,” a senior officer involved in the investigation said, requesting anonymity.
Following an intelligence tip-off, the Berhampur police tracked the buses from Bhubaneswar and intercepted them just across the border in Andhra Pradesh. The aspirants were detained at an undisclosed location overnight before being brought back to Berhampur for interrogation.
{{/usCountry}}Following an intelligence tip-off, the Berhampur police tracked the buses from Bhubaneswar and intercepted them just across the border in Andhra Pradesh. The aspirants were detained at an undisclosed location overnight before being brought back to Berhampur for interrogation.
{{/usCountry}}Officials have so far withheld the identities of those detained and the name of the agency, but preliminary findings point to direct complicity by the exam-conducting firm. “The involvement of the agency is a serious breach. We are probing how far the network extends,” said a police officer familiar with the matter..
The OPRB, while announcing the postponement, said a new date for the SI examination will be communicated soon and urged candidates to follow updates on the official website, odishapolice.gov.in.
Meanwhile, the interrogation of the detained candidates is underway in Berhampur. Investigators are examining phone records and money trails to uncover the scale of the racket, which officials fear may extend beyond Odisha.