PPSC staffers ‘leaked’ at least 12 question papers: investigation

LAHORE: An inquiry has found out that at least 12 papers for recruitment against government posts through Punjab Public Service Commission (PPSC) were leaked.

According to a report, evidence emerged after the officials browsed the contents of storage (USB) and other electronic gadgets confiscated from Waqas Akram, a junior data entry operator at the commission.

Akram along with three other staffers of the commission — Ghazanfar, employed at the finance department of PPSC; Gohar Ali, an MPhil student at the University of Punjab and Mazhar Iqbal, a private person — was arrested by Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) on Saturday after they were found involved in leakage of the question paper for the written test being held for the 58 posts of tehsildar, consolidation/hill torrent officer and reader to member Board of Revenue (BoR).

The arrests compelled the commission to postpone the test at the eleventh hour, inviting flak from the candidates who had arrived from far-flung areas in extreme cold. As many as 103,487 candidates had applied for the competitive examination.

During the probe, papers for the posts of tehsildars, lecturers, deputy accounts officers, assistant directors and inspectors were found from devices belonging to the suspects.

Reports suggest an officer from the education department might also be questioned in the case.

Akram, who being a computer operator had access to the papers, is suspected of making copies of the paper and handing it over to the other suspects who in turn would sell it for hefty bribes.

A week before the arrests, ACE Director General Gohar Nafees had formed a three-member special investigation team (SIT) to look into the reports about leakage of question papers.

The spokesperson said that as per the ACE team’s investigation, an Rs800,000 bribe was received by the suspects for the leaking of each question paper.

“The four arrested gang members have confessed that they not only leaked the question papers of the test for tehsildar’s posts but also of previous papers for the posts of inspector and ACE assistant director, lecturers in Chemistry, Education, etc,” he said, adding that further investigation was underway.