Overview
- Odisha Crime Branch teams arrested Shankar Prusty in Uttarakhand near the India–Nepal border after a weeks-long manhunt and flew him to Bhubaneswar for interrogation at CID headquarters.
- Police allege Prusty led a syndicate tied to subcontractor Panchsoft Technologies that leaked SI exam papers, took original certificates and blank cheques from candidates, and charged about ₹20–25 lakh per deal.
- Investigators said he had been moving across multiple states and was preparing to travel to Dubai via Nepal; Prusty denied wrongdoing, claimed a conspiracy, and said he has sought legal relief including bail.
- Officials reported seizing a Fortuner SUV, mobile phones, documents, and a passport, with total arrests now at roughly 124, including 114 aspirants who were recently granted bail.
- The October 5–6 exam for 933 SI posts was postponed after the bust, with the recruitment chain running from OPRB to PSU ITI Ltd to Silicon Techlab and then to Panchsoft, and the case now transferred to the CBI to probe inter-state and financial links.