The investigation into alleged irregularities in the Jharkhand Public Service Commission (JPSC) examinations has taken a significant turn, with the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) now issuing notices to all 2,204 candidates who cleared the Preliminary Test. Every successful candidate has been asked to submit carbon copies of their official OMR answer sheets so investigators can cross-check them against master records seized during the probe. This comes even as former JPSC officials face intense questioning and students across the state continue to protest, demanding the exam be scrapped entirely.
Every Candidate Now Under the Scanner
According to the CID's official notice, all candidates who cleared the Preliminary Test must submit carbon copies of their Paper I and Paper II OMR sheets between July 30 and August 5. They've been asked to send clear photos or PDF scans through designated official email and WhatsApp channels. And if someone no longer has their physical carbon copy? They'll need to submit a written explanation along with their roll number explaining why.
The plan is straightforward but thorough — investigators will match each candidate's submitted copy against the original OMR sheets recovered from JPSC headquarters, looking for any discrepancies, unauthorised markings, or signs of backend tampering. Anyone whose submission doesn't match up with the official record will be called in for forensic questioning and further investigation.
Former Chairman Grilled for a Second Straight Day
Alongside the candidate verification drive, the CID has ramped up questioning of senior officials who were involved in running the exam. Former JPSC Chairman L. Khyangte was questioned for nearly eight hours straight for the second day in a row, and he's been asked to return for further questioning on July 31. In one particularly telling session, investigators brought him face-to-face with former Deputy Examination Controller Shweta Gupta to sort out conflicting statements about how certain administrative decisions and agency selections were made.
Officials say the interrogations so far have thrown up several important leads, which are now being matched against seized electronic records, servers, and administrative files. The core question investigators are trying to answer: were server logs altered, or were physical OMR sheets swapped out during evaluation?
Custody Extended as Protests Grow in Ranchi
Meanwhile, a local court has extended the police remand of five key accused by another two days — this includes former Deputy Examination Controller Shweta Gupta, TDPL Director Ramveer Singh, Marketing Manager Abhay Tiwari, and two employees, Mohammad Usman and Mohammad Ebad. Investigators have also recorded detailed statements from Pradeep Kumar Singh, Hemant Verma, and Sanjay Kumar to better understand how the alleged evaluation fraud network operated.
All of this is unfolding against the backdrop of large student protests in Ranchi. Thousands of civil service aspirants gathered in the state capital, marching through major roads before assembling at Albert Ekka Chowk, demanding the 14th JPSC Preliminary Exam be cancelled outright and calling for a CBI-led central investigation into both the JPSC PT and the JSSC CGL exam. For now, authorities say the next steps will depend entirely on what the ongoing forensic investigation ultimately reveals.