Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala Public Service Commission has decided not to issue appointment orders in the police civil officer rank list till an inquiry into the alleged malpractices in the examinations is completed.
The PSC will examine the call details of 100 top candidates in the rank list of all the districts in the wake of two SFI leaders involved in the stabbing case in the University College gaining top ranks. The examinations were held on July 22, 2018. The decision on scrapping the list will be taken after examining these details.
PSC chairman M.K. Sakeer told reporters that three SFI leaders had committed malpractices in the civil police officer recruitment process. This was found after examining their phone details. During the examination, 96 messages were received on Sivarenjith’s phone from two phones while 78 were received on Pranav’s phone from three phones during the first one hour and 15 minutes of the examination between 2 p.m. and 3.15 p.m. The phone numbers from which these messages were sent and their owners have been identified. Their call history has been sought from the cyber cell. However, at present the mobile phones are switched off, Mr Sakeer said.
The statements of the 22 candidates present in the examinations hall and three invigilators were collected. However, none said that malpractice had occurred.
Earlier, the cyber cell had found an unusual flow of SMS during the exam. The PSC is probing the case with police help.
Sivarenjith, who scored first rank in the PSC police constable rank list, Pranav, second rank holder, and Naseem, who scored 28th rank, were removed from the list after they were accused in the stabbing case.
The PSC has also decided to permanently debar them from its selection process.
It has also recommended to the police to register a case and conduct further probes into the issue.
“It was not clear whether the accused had used phones inside the exam halls,” Mr Sakeer said.
