Guwahati: The optical mark recognition sheets of candidates who appeared in an examination to recruit agriculture development officers have been sent for forensic analysis following suspicion of tampering to favour some candidates.

The examination was conducted in 2015 and the result was declared on February 4, 2016. It is conducted by the Assam Public Service Commission (APSC).

On a optical mark recognition sheet, the candidates mark the answers on specially printed forms which are then read by an OMR reader. The data is then sent to a computer for processing.

One of the most common uses of these sheets is in multiple-choice examinations.

An official source said the police have sent 1,075 recognition sheets, along with an attendance list, marksheet and list of selected candidates to the forensic science laboratory at Kahilipara here and the report is awaited.

There have been allegations that former APSC chairman Rakesh Kumar Paul and his accomplices had taken bribes from some candidates to select them for the posts.

A case (number 159/2017) was registered against Paul and Sayed Musharraf Hussain, an APSC employee, at Bhangagarh police station here on August 16 last year.

Paul and Hussain were arrested in the case, registered based on a complaint lodged by Bedanta Bikash Das, a job aspirant from Tezpur.

Das accused Paul and Hussain of demanding Rs 15 lakh for the post. Police had filed a chargesheet against the duo in October.

The source said as the forensic reports are yet to be received, assistant commissioner of police (Dispur) Sujit Kumar Saikia, who is the investigating officer of the case, had moved an application before the special court, Assam, seeking an extension of three months to complete the investigation and to submit the supplementary chargesheet, which was allowed by the court on Friday.

Gauhati High Court, on November 14 last year, had passed an order asking the police to complete the investigation and file the supplementary chargesheet as early as possible, preferably within a period of three months.

The high court, however, added that the investigating officer may appeal before the special court for more time to submit the supplementary chargesheet for justified reasons and the special court will be at liberty to consider the same.

The investigating officer sought the extension in the light of the high court order.