Evaporating ink: Candidates find hack to crack Tamil Nadu public service exam

Some of the Tamil Nadu Public Service exam candidates seem to have found a hack to crack the exam: use evaporating ink to mark the answers to objective type questions and then later shade the right answers.

Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission on Friday imposed a life ban on 99 candidates, 39 of whom made it to the top 100 list in the Group-IV examination, from appearing in examinations conducted by it for indulging in malpractices.

The investigation found that the 99 candidates chose the Rameswaram and Keezhakari centres on the advice of agents, who helped them clear their exams through middlemen.

"The modus operandi was that the agents asked the candidates to shade answers using a special ink which disappears after a few hours. The middlemen then shaded the right answers in the answer sheets before it went for correction," a police source said.

The commission ordered an investigation after 39 people who wrote exams in the aforesaid two centres made it to the first 100 of the list.

"This evoked suspicion and an inquiry were instituted. It has been found that allegations of malpractices are true and hence all the 99 candidates who indulged in malpractices have been disqualified and barred for life," a TNPSC official said.

The TNSPC Group-IV examination was held on September 1, 2019, for which more than 16 lakh people appeared.