The Odisha SI exam scam has taken a dramatic turn with the arrest of Suresh Nayak, owner of Silicon Techlab, by the Crime Branch after a lengthy interrogation.
Nayak will appear in court alongside Shankar Prusty, the alleged mastermind behind the scam. The SI recruitment test was initially awarded to ITI Limited, which subcontracted the work to Silicon Techlab. Nayak’s firm then passed key responsibilities to Panchsoft Technologies, owned by Prusty.
Prusty was arrested near the Nepal border in Uttarakhand while attempting to flee to Dubai. His associate, Muna Mohanty, was earlier arrested from Dasapalla in Nayagarh district. Both are accused of leaking question papers and collecting between ₹20–25 lakh from each of 114 aspirants.
The Odisha Police Recruitment Board postponed the October 5–6 exams after arresting the candidates involved. Investigators found that Mohanty lived lavishly in Bhubaneswar’s Jagamara area despite lacking a stable income. He operated a network under Prusty’s direction, including Srikanta Maharana, Arabinda Das, Biswaranjan Behera, T. Abhimanyu Dora, and Priyadarsini Samal.
Police confirmed the group manipulated the recruitment process, damaging the integrity of the exams and public trust. With mounting pressure and political outrage, the Odisha government has recommended a CBI probe into the multi-crore Odisha SI exam scam, which may have interstate links.
