Maharashtra: IAS officer held in teachers' eligibility test rigging case

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An IAS officer was arrested in connection with alleged manipulation of the results of the Maharashtra government's Teachers' Eligibility Test (TET) held in 2020, an official said.

Sushil Khodwekar (47), now posted as deputy secretary with the agriculture department, had allegedly taken money from some of the accused and ordered removal of a firm from the blacklist, he said. He was arrested from Thane by Pune Police's cyber wing which is probing the case. This is the 13th arrest in the case.

On Friday, the investigators had said the marks of 7,800 TET-2020 candidates were manipulated by the accused for money. The test was part of the recruitment process for teachers' posts. Those arrested include Tukaram Supe, commissioner (now suspended) of the Maharashtra State Council of Examinations (MSCE); Pritesh Deshmukh, director of G A Software which was responsible for conducting the test, and Abhishek Sawrikar, a consultant with the education department. Khodwekar, posted with the education department when the scam unfolded, allegedly received lakhs of rupees from the other accused, said inspector Kumar Ghadge of the Pune cyber police station.

"GA Software had been blacklisted by the government earlier. But Khodwekar allegedly gave instructions to Supe to remove it from the blacklist," he said. "Pritesh Deshmukh and Supe, through (co-accused) Manoj Dongare, allegedly paid lakhs of rupees to Khodwekar," the official said. Technical analysis of mobile phones of Sawarikar and Deshmukh also threw some light on Khodwekar's involvement, said inspector Ghadge. A court remanded the IAS officer in police custody till January 31 and further probe is on, he said.

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