Bhubaneswar: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has widened its investigation into the alleged leakage of the 2024 Odisha Police Sub-Inspector (SI) examination paper, with fresh evidence pointing to the possible involvement of certain Odisha Police Recruitment Board (OPRB) officials and private entities that have so far remained outside the investigative net, officials said on Sunday.
The federal agency is also tracing the alleged proceeds of crime generated through cash payments collected from candidates and examining whether the money was used to acquire illicit assets that could be attached under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), they said.
The ED conducted searches at around a dozen premises in Odisha and West Bengal last week as part of the investigation. The premises included locations linked to Silicon Techlab Private Limited, Panchsoft Technologies Private Limited and PSIL International Limited, companies associated with the conduct of the examination.
In a statement issued on October 14, the ED said it had unearthed the role of companies and entities that had so far remained outside the investigative net of agencies.
The searches also indicated the possible involvement of other individuals, including those associated with the OPRB, the agency said.
The investigation conducted so far, along with evidence collected during the searches, indicated that the question paper was allegedly leaked in an organised manner and that substantial proceeds of crime were generated through cash payments made by candidates, the ED said.
According to the agency, the OPRB had entrusted ITI Limited, a central government public sector undertaking, with conducting the examination. ITI Limited subsequently handed over the work to Bhubaneswar-based Silicon Techlab Private Limited (STPL).
The ED alleged that STPL director Suresh Chandra Nayak engaged Panchsoft Technologies to handle sensitive candidate information without obtaining written permission from ITI Limited.
The agency further alleged that individuals linked to Silicon Techlab and Sankar Prusty approached candidates and lured them with promises of providing confidential information about the examination paper in exchange for money.
It also alleged that PSIL International Limited took over the controlling stake and majority shareholding of STPL without informing ITI Limited of the development.
Nayak continued as a director of STPL and unauthorisedly accessed the examination papers, the ED claimed.
The money laundering case stems from an Odisha Police FIR registered in September 2025, following the interception of three buses carrying 114 candidates near Ichchapuram in Andhra Pradesh, close to the Odisha border.
The candidates were allegedly promised access to the leaked examination paper in exchange for cash payments ranging from Rs 15 lakh to Rs 30 lakh, officials said.
The examination was scheduled to be held on October 5 and 6, 2025.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) also investigated the case. According to the ED, the CBI filed a chargesheet before a court stating that various irregularities had occurred during the examination process in March 2025, when the test was initially scheduled to be conducted.
Following the detection of the irregularities, the OPRB cancelled the examination, the agency said.
