Bhubaneswar/New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) probe into the alleged leakage of the 2024 police sub-inspector exam paper in Odisha has highlighted the role of some Odisha Police Recruitment Board (OPRB) officials and private entities who have remained outside the investigative net till now, officials said Sunday.
Apart from probing them, the federal agency is also looking at tracing the flow of the proceeds of crime, allegedly generated out of money in cash paid by candidates and used to create “illicit” assets, and attach those under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the officials told PTI.
Searches were conducted by the ED at a dozen premises in Odisha and West Bengal last week.
These included the locations of private companies named Silicon Techlab Private Limited (STPL), Panchsoft Technologies Private Limited and PSIL International Limited, which were involved in the conduct of the exam.
The officials said the probe is being expanded with the unearthing of fresh evidence and information, including the investigation into the role of certain OPRB officials.
The ED said in a statement October 14 that it has “unearthed the role of companies/entities which have so far remained outside the investigative net of agencies”.
The raids have found the “possible role” of other persons, including those associated with the OPRB, it said.
“Such entities have been found to be intricately linked with the entire examination cycle.
“The investigation conducted so far, along with the evidence collected during searches, indicates that leakage of question paper took place in an organised manner and huge proceeds of crime were generated in the form of cash received from the candidates,” the agency said.
It found that the OPRB had assigned the work of conducting the exam to ITI Limited, a central government PSU, which in turn “handed over” the work to Bhubaneswar-based STPL.
It turned out that STPL director S C Nayak, “without the written permission” of ITI Limited, engaged Panchsoft Technology for handling “sensitive” information of the candidates.
The ED claimed in the statement that persons linked with Silicon Techlab and Sankar Prusty (director of Panchsoft) “approached” the candidates, “lured” them with the promise of providing confidential information of the exam paper in lieu of money and mobilised them.
It further alleged that the “controlling stake and majority shareholding” of STPL was “taken over” by a company named PSIL International Limited and ITI Limited was not informed of this development.
Nayak, according to the ED, continued to be a director of STPL and “unauthorisedly” accessed the exam papers.
The PMLA case of the ED stems from an Odisha Police FIR that was lodged in September 2025 after police intercepted three buses carrying 114 candidates of the said exam near Ichchapuram in Andhra Pradesh, bordering Odisha.
It is alleged that the candidates were told they would get the “leaked” paper of the exam, scheduled to be held October 5 and October 6 last year, in lieu of cash ranging between Rs 15 lakh and Rs 30 lakh.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) also probed the case and, according to the ED, filed a chargehseet before a court stating that various irregularities took place in the exam in March 2025, when it was first scheduled to be held, and after these issues were noticed, the exams were cancelled by the OPRB.
