Amid row over the alleged involvement of the under-secretary Tumi Gangkak in the Arunachal Pradesh Public Service Commission (APPSC) paper leak scam, the body of the suspended official was dead under mysterious circumstances on Friday afternoon.

According to reports, Tumi Gangkak was found hanging from a tree at Poma village near Itanagar in Arunachal Pradesh.

Tumi Gangkak, who served as assistant controller of examination was under suspension over his alleged involvement in the APPSC question paper leak scam.

Following the recovery of the body, Arunachal Pradesh police have launched an investigation into the case.

Notably, Tumi Gangkak was earlier summoned by the central bureau of investigation (CBI) in connection with his alleged involvement in the APPSC question paper leak scam in Arunachal Pradesh.

The last message of Gangkak in a WhatsApp group read: “My dear esteemed members, I have never been involved in APPSC paper leakage. I am innocent but I am being targeted as I was the assistant controller of examinations.”

It is to be noted that the APPSC paper leak episode came to light after one Gyamar Padung, a candidate of the AE (civil) examination filed a police complaint on August 29, 2022, claiming that he suspected that the examination paper had been leaked.

The case was initially investigated by the Itanagar Police and later transferred to the special investigation cell (SIC) of the Arunachal Pradesh Police.

The CBI had taken over the investigation on October 26, 2022 on the recommendation of the state government and later conducted searches at around 16 different places in Arunachal Pradesh, West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh in November which led to recovery of incriminating documents/articles including fake/counterfeit stamps of the executive magistrate of Arunachal Pradesh, executive engineer, State Bank of India, hard discs, pen drives, etc.