MPSC Drug Inspector exam paper leak: Woman candidate who ranked 7th arrested from Nandurbar by Mumbai Police

The Mumbai Police have arrested a candidate who secured seventh rank in the Maharashtra Public Service Commission MPSC Drug Inspector GroupB examination in connection with an alleged question paper leak With the latest arrest the number of people held in the case has risen to seven reported the PTIRituja Patil was arrested by the Mumbai Crime Branchs Property Cell from Nandurbar on Tuesday police officials said She was later produced before a court and remanded to the custody of the Mumbai Crime BranchAccording to the police Patil had allegedly received the leaked question paper before the examination She was reportedly instructed to deliberately answer 10 questions incorrectly so that her performance would not raise suspicion the news agency reportedThree MPSC officials among those arrestedThe Mumbai Crime Branch had last week arrested six people including three MPSC officials over the alleged leak of the Drug Inspector GroupB screening examination paperAccording to the police the accused include 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 coconspirators Amrut Namdeo Patil and Lokesh alias Gaurav Rajendra PatilPolice allege that the accused gained access to the examination questions before the test compiled them into a separate set and circulated them to unauthorised individualsMPSC cancels recruitment processThe Drug Inspector GroupB screening examination was held on March 22 for recruitment under the Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration DepartmentFollowing the preliminary investigation and confirmation of a breach in the confidentiality of the examination process the MPSC cancelled the recruitment process and announced that a fresh examination would be heldThe commission said the decision was taken to ensure a fair and equal opportunity for candidates and to protect the integrity transparency and impartiality of its examinations488 candidates appeared for interviewsThe recruitment process began with an advertisement issued on July 29 2025 The screening examination was conducted offline at six divisional headquarters across Maharashtra on March 22 2026The result was declared on June 12 with 506 candidates qualifying for the interview stage Of these 488 appeared for interviews held between July 1 and 22The MPSC subsequently published a provisional general merit list of the 488 candidates As per the commission 485 candidates were found eligible for appointment while three were declared ineligibleHowever complaints about the conduct of the screening examination were received from candidates and public representatives between July 22 and 26Probe continuesThe 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 as per the PTIThe charges relate to alleged offences including cheating criminal breach of trust criminal conspiracy and corruption by public servants The investigation by the Mumbai Crime Branch is continuingwith PTI inputs