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GUNTUR — The Enforcement Directorate conducted searches on Wednesday across seven premises linked to senior IPS officer P. Sitarama Anjaneyulu and several others in connection with an alleged money laundering investigation into irregularities in the Andhra Pradesh Public Service Commission Group-I Main Examination answer script evaluation. The probe centres on an alleged payment of 1.14 crore rupees to a private agency, Camsign Media, engaged to conduct the manual evaluation process. Registered under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, the operations covered multiple premises situated across Hyderabad and Secunderabad in Telangana, alongside target locations in the Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh.
Former APPSC Secretary and Private Firm Managing Director Face Financial Scrutiny
Investigators focused heavily on premises tied to P. Sitarama Anjaneyulu, a 1992-batch Indian Police Service officer who was serving as secretary of the Andhra Pradesh Public Service Commission during the period when manual evaluation responsibilities were handed over to Camsign Media. Alongside the premises of the senior officer, central agency teams carried out coordinated searches at sites belonging to P. Madhusudhana Rao, the managing director of Camsign Media. The company had been entrusted with the manual evaluation of answer sheets submitted by candidates appearing for the competitive recruitment exam.
Federal investigators are examining the precise administrative procedures through which the commission selected the private firm and processed the subsequent financial disbursements. The search operations were organized to secure underlying contracts, accounting ledgers, and communications to establish whether financial transactions executed during the course of the evaluation assignment breached statutory anti-money laundering provisions. Authorities are also evaluating the roles played by various intermediaries and departmental personnel connected to the operational and fiscal clearing of the assignment.
Resort Premises Used for Answer Script Storage and Processing Searched in Guntur
A primary operational hub covered during the multi-city operation was the Aavasa Resort Haailand, located in Chinakakani village within Guntur district. According to investigative reports, the commercial resort served as a centralized storage facility for physical APPSC answer scripts and functioned as the active venue where the manual evaluation sessions were conducted. Enforcement officials examined the site to verify the logistical and security arrangements instituted for storing confidential examination papers and to secure operational records maintained by staff during the evaluation exercise.
The search teams additionally visited premises linked to TruGrader Services, an operating division of Stone Media Advisory Services Private Limited, which had conducted the earlier digital evaluation phase for the same recruitment cycle. Properties connected to the firm’s managing director, Akella Peri Srinivasa Rao, and associate Mahamkali Raghuram were searched to obtain relevant digital audit trails and operational agreements tied to the commission’s evaluation mandate.
Investigators Scrutinize Transition Between Digital and Manual Grading Systems
The simultaneous examination of Camsign Media and TruGrader Services has brought the commission’s shift from initial digital evaluation to subsequent manual evaluation under close official review. Enforcement Directorate officials are actively tracing financial trails and commercial relationships linking the decision-makers, private entities, and intermediaries involved in both evaluation workflows. A central objective of the probe remains clarifying the administrative justification for transitioning the grading process to a private vendor and tracking the ultimate recipients of the disputed 1.14 crore rupee transaction.
Because the APPSC oversees competitive examinations for recruitment to public offices across Andhra Pradesh, allegations of procedural improprieties carry significant institutional implications for public trust in civil service hiring. The agency has emphasized that the multi-location searches represent an investigative step to recover documents and financial evidence, noting that the ongoing inquiry has not established final culpability against any individual or corporate entity named in the proceedings.
