MPSC Paper Leak: Nandurbar Woman Arrested by Mumbai Police in Drug Inspector Exam Fraud

The Mumbai Crime Branch on Tuesday arrested a woman from Nandurbar in connection with the Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC) paper leak case. The suspect allegedly cleared the MPSC drug inspector screening exam after obtaining access to the leaked question paper.

Police identified the accused as Rutuja Patil, marking the seventh arrest in the ongoing investigation. Investigators revealed that Patil intentionally gave 10 wrong answers on her examination paper to avoid raising suspicion regarding her performance. She is being brought to Mumbai and is scheduled to be produced before a court on Wednesday.

Prior to Patil's arrest, the police had already arrested her father and her former boyfriend. According to investigators, the former boyfriend allegedly assisted in procuring the leaked questions for her. He later approached the police with information about the leak following a breakup between the two.

As part of the expanding probe, police teams searched the residences of several suspects in Nandurbar. Investigators are currently scrutinising financial records, bank transactions, and digital communications to trace the money trail, ascertain who paid for the leaked question paper, and determine whether other candidates also benefited from the illicit operation.

Following the revelation of the leak, the MPSC cancelled the recruitment process for the drug inspector posts last week. The commission confirmed that the examination will be conducted afresh for all candidates.

In the wake of the incident, NCP (SP) MLA Rohit Pawar staged a protest alongside competitive exam aspirants outside the MPSC office in CBD-Belapur, Navi Mumbai. Pawar demanded the immediate resignation of MPSC chairperson Vivek Bhimanwar, alleging administrative failure and misconduct in safeguarding the recruitment exams.