The Enforcement Directorate conducted search operations at seven premises on 4 November 2026 in connection with an alleged scam involving the evaluation of answer scripts of the Andhra Pradesh Public Service Commission (APPSC) Group-I Main Examination.
The searches were carried out by the Hyderabad Zonal Office of the Enforcement Directorate under Section 17 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002. The premises searched were located in Hyderabad and Secunderabad in Telangana and in Guntur district in Andhra Pradesh.
The investigation centres on an alleged payment of Rs 1,14,32,312 made to a private company, Camsign Media Private Limited, for carrying out the manual evaluation of the examination answer scripts. According to the Enforcement Directorate, the company was paid for a manual evaluation exercise that was not genuinely conducted. Instead, marks from an earlier digital evaluation were mapped as the manual evaluation marks. The agency has described this payment as prima facie proceeds of crime under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
The Enforcement Directorate investigation originated from a first information report registered by Suryaraopet Police Station under the NTR Police Commissionerate in Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh. The FIR relates to alleged irregularities in the manual evaluation of the answer scripts of the APPSC Group-I Main Examination.
The offences mentioned include Section 420 of the Indian Penal Code relating to cheating and Section 120-B of the Indian Penal Code relating to criminal conspiracy. These are scheduled offences under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. The amount at the centre of the case is Rs 1,14,32,312, which was released to Camsign Media Private Limited for the manual evaluation exercise.
An important background to the case is an order passed by the Andhra Pradesh High Court in Writ Petition No. 10805 of 2021. The High Court set aside the digital evaluation of the answer scripts and directed that manual evaluation be conducted. Following this order, the responsibility for manual evaluation was entrusted to Camsign Media Private Limited. This arrangement operated between 27 November 2021 and 19 February 2022.
During this period the answer scripts were moved out of official premises and taken to Haailand Resorts at Chinakakani village in Guntur district, Andhra Pradesh. The answer scripts remained at the resort for 84 days between December 2021 and February 2022. The Enforcement Directorate has identified M/s Aavasa Resort Haailand as the premises where the answer scripts were kept and the evaluation exercise was carried out.
The central allegation of the Enforcement Directorate is that no genuine manual evaluation of the answer scripts was actually carried out. The marks from the earlier digital evaluation were instead mapped as the manual evaluation marks. The earlier digital evaluation had been conducted by TruGrader Services, a division of Stone Media Advisory Services Private Limited.
The payment of Rs 1,14,32,312 was made through Cheque No. 197469 dated 16 February 2022. The cheque was signed by the then Secretary of the Andhra Pradesh Public Service Commission. On 1 January 2022 the manual evaluation exercise was publicly stated to be in its final stages. The entire exercise was subsequently discarded. The answer scripts were retrieved after 19 February 2022 and evaluated again at official premises under CCTV surveillance. The final results and selection list were declared on the basis of this subsequent evaluation.
The Enforcement Directorate searched the premises of the former Andhra Pradesh Public Service Commission Secretary, P. Seetharamanjaneyulu, IPS. His statement was recorded during the search operations.
The agency also searched the premises of Camsign Media Private Limited, the private company entrusted with the manual evaluation, and the premises of its Managing Director, P. Madhusudhana Rao. Searches were further conducted at M/s Aavasa Resort Haailand, the location where the answer scripts were kept. The premises of TruGrader Services and its associated Managing Director, Akella Peri Srinivasa Rao, were also searched. In addition, the premises of Mahamkali Raghuram, who was engaged in connection with the evaluation work, were searched.
During the searches the Enforcement Directorate found and seized incriminating documents, digital devices and other records relating to the alleged scam. Property documents recovered during the searches are under verification. The agency has stated that further investigation is in progress.
The Enforcement Directorate has not announced any arrests arising from the searches conducted on 4 November 2026. It has also not announced any provisional attachment of properties or quantified recovery of proceeds of crime in its press release dated 5 November 2026. The investigation remains at the stage of evidence collection and examination of the money trail connected with the payment of Rs 1,14,32,312.
The sequence of events begins with the Andhra Pradesh High Court order in 2021 that set aside the digital evaluation and directed manual evaluation. On 27 November 2021 the manual evaluation work was entrusted to Camsign Media Private Limited. Between December 2021 and February 2022 the answer scripts remained at Haailand Resorts for 84 days.
On 1 January 2022 the evaluation exercise was publicly stated to be in its final stages. On 16 February 2022 the cheque for Rs 1,14,32,312 was issued. After 19 February 2022 the earlier exercise was discarded and the answer scripts were retrieved for evaluation at official premises under CCTV surveillance. The Suryaraopet police first information report was registered in April 2025 according to subsequent media reports. The Enforcement Directorate conducted the searches on 4 November 2026 and issued its press release on 5 November 2026.
Media reports have provided additional context from the earlier police investigation. According to a report in The New Indian Express, the underlying investigation concerns the manual evaluation of the APPSC Group-I Main Examination answer scripts and the alleged payment of Rs 1.14 crore to Camsign Media for work that was not actually carried out. The newspaper also reported the 84-day period during which the answer scripts remained at Haailand Resorts and the subsequent re-evaluation under CCTV surveillance.
A Times of India report published on 4 November 2026 stated that the Special Investigation Team had alleged that 66 unqualified persons were engaged to transfer predetermined marks onto OMR sheets without conducting an actual evaluation. The Enforcement Directorate press release of 5 November 2026 does not itself mention the figure of 66 persons.
The Enforcement Directorate has identified the payment of Rs 1,14,32,312 as prima facie proceeds of crime under Section 2(1)(u) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. The agency is examining the documentary, electronic and financial evidence connected with the evaluation arrangement and the movement of the funds. Property documents recovered during the searches are under verification. Further investigation is continuing.
The searches covered seven premises linked to the former APPSC Secretary, the company entrusted with the manual evaluation, its Managing Director, the resort where the answer scripts were kept, the company responsible for the earlier digital evaluation, its associated Managing Director, and the individual engaged in connection with the evaluation work. Incriminating documents, digital devices and other records were seized. Statements of accused persons, including that of P. Seetharamanjaneyulu, IPS, were recorded.
As of the Enforcement Directorate press release dated 5 November 2026, the investigation has reached the stage of search and evidence collection. No final finding of guilt has been announced. The agency continues to examine the circumstances surrounding the payment made for the manual evaluation exercise that was later discarded and the mapping of marks from the earlier digital evaluation.
