ED Raided 9 Locations In Odisha: The Enforcement Directorate on Friday conducted massive searches at as many as nine locations across the state over an ongoing money laundering investigation which is linked to the Odisha Police Sub-Inspector (SI) recruitment paper leak case.
The ED raids were conducted at premises linked to key accused, including alleged middlemen Muna Mohanty, Shankar Prusty and Silicon Techlab managing director Suresh Nayak. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) filed a charge sheet in December last year and named 122 people, which includes 100 candidates.
SI Exam Cancelled, CBI Alleges Question Paper Packets Were Swapped
The Sub Inspector recruitment exam was scheduled for October 2025 but the state government cancelled after its question papers were leaked. The exam process was outsourced by the Odisha Police Recruitment Board (OPRB) to ITI Ltd, a state-run company. As per the investigation, the ITI awarded the work to Silicon Techlab Private Ltd, a Bhubaneswar-based company, which subcontracted it to Panchsoft Technologies Private Ltd.
CBI alleged that Suresh Chandra Nayak, managing director of Silicon Techlab Private Ltd, manipulated the Sub Inspector exam process by replacing question paper packet number 3 with packet number 5. The replacement process was done at Saraswati Printing Press in Kolkata. As per the agency, Nayak and OPRB chairman Susanta Kumar Nath and IPS officer Avinash Kumar visited the press on September 9 last year.
The police officers were told that packet number 5, containing the final question paper approved by the board, had been sent for printing.
CBI Alleged Nayak Swapped Question Paper Packets With Help From Printing Press Official
According to CBI, Nayak contacted the person in charge of the press confidential section, Pinaki Dey, who told him that packet number 3 had been submitted by mistake and told him not to open it. He told Dey the packet would be replaced with the correct one.
The next day, Nayak, who had allegedly made copies, handed over the sub-inspector exam paper packet to Dey for printing.
Syndicate Allegedly Charged Candidates Rs 20-25 Lakh For Leaked Papers
According to the central probe agency, the syndicate led by Mohanty and Prusty charged Rs 20 lakh and Rs 25 lakh to students for leaked question papers. They even arranged three buses to take candidates to Vizianagaram, Andhra Pradesh. There, the syndicate prepped students with leaked answers before the exam. Agents allegedly signed blank cheques from candidates as security.
New Recruitment Commission Stepped In To Expedite Cancelled Odisha SI Exam
Following the paper leak, the Odisha government in November 2025 constituted the Odisha Uniformed Services Staff Selection Commission to take over the recruitment process.