MPSC paper leak: 7th ranker held by Mumbai police

The Mumbai police on Tuesday arrested a candidate, who had bagged seventh rank, in the Maharashtra Public Service Commission’s (MPSC) Drug Inspector (Group-B) examination paper leak case, taking the number of persons held in the matter to seven.

Rituja Patil was taken into custody by the Mumbai Crime Branch’s property cell from Nandurbar, officials said.

Police said Patil had allegedly received the leaked question paper before the examination and was advised to deliberately answer 10 questions incorrectly to avoid suspicion. She was subsequently produced before a court and sent to the custody of the Mumbai Crime Branch, officials said.

Last week, the Crime Branch had arrested six persons, including three MPSC officials, in connection with the alleged leak of the question paper of the Drug Inspector (Group-B) screening examination conducted on March 22.

Besides Rituja Patil, the other accused have been identified as MPSC Assistant Section Officers Vishweshwar Dattatraya Nakate and Gopal Bhattu Marathe, MPSC Under Secretary Abhijit Ganpatrao Lendwe, Pravin Dilip Patil, director of Kautilya Academy in Nandurbar, and alleged co-conspirators Amrut Namdeo Patil and Lokesh alias Gaurav Rajendra Patil.

The accused allegedly accessed the examination questions before the test, compiled them into a separate set and distributed them to unauthorised persons, according to the Crime Branch. The examination was conducted for recruitment to Drug Inspector (Group-B) posts under the Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration Department.

Following preliminary investigations, which confirmed a breach in the confidentiality surrounding the MPSC examination process, the MPSC cancelled the recruitment process and announced that a fresh examination would be conducted.

The commission said the decision was necessary to ensure that all candidates get a fair and equal opportunity and to maintain their confidence in the recruitment process by safeguarding the integrity, transparency and impartiality of its examinations.

The question papers for the examination were prepared by experts under strict confidentiality protocols, police said. The case has been registered under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), the Maharashtra Prevention of Malpractices at Competitive Examinations Act and the Prevention of Corruption Act for offences including cheating, criminal breach of trust, criminal conspiracy and corruption by public servants. The recruitment process had been initiated through an advertisement issued on July 29, 2025. The screening examination was conducted offline at six divisional headquarters across Maharashtra on March 22 this year. The result of the examination was declared on June 12, after which 506 candidates were found eligible for the interview stage, it said in a statement.

Of these, 488 candidates appeared for interviews conducted between July 1 and 22. After completion of the interviews, the MPSC published a provisional general merit list comprising 488 candidates, including 485 candidates found eligible for appointment and three declared ineligible, the commission said. However, complaints concerning the conduct of the screening examination were received by the commission between July 22 and 26 through e-mail from some candidates as well as public representatives.