MUMBAI: The police team probing the leak of March MPSC drug inspector screening exam paper are examining how the paper was accessed, how the leaked material was circulated and whether candidates were asked to pay money for material obtained.Explaining how the paper came to light, a police officer said a Nandurbar resident, Lokesh alias Gaurav Rajendra Patil, one of the six arrested persons, was in a relationship with a woman identified as Rutuja Patil, who was preparing for the drug inspector exam.Investigators suspect that Gaurav obtained questions from the paper ahead of the March 22 exam and shared them with Rutuja in order to help her clear the exam. Rutuja cleared the exam, the police officer said.

Complainant, 3 MPSC Staffers Among 6 Held

However, the relationship between the two ended soon after and things turned sour between them. Gaurav then reportedly approached the MPSC and informed the commission about the alleged paper leak, the officer said.“The inquiry commission found only one candidate had received the question set and benefited from it,” Raj Tilak Roshan, DCP (crime), said.Roshan said questions were illegally obtained from a question set prepared by experts. A separate question paper was then allegedly prepared using the leaked questions and circulated to other persons, he said.

Apart from Gaurav Patil, the other five arrested by the property cell of crime branch led by inspector Mangesh Desai are Vishweshwar Nakate, assistant cell officer of MPSC, Abhijit Lendve, under secretary, MPSC, Gopal Marathe, assistant cell officer of MPSC, Pravin Patil, director of Kautilya Academy in Nandurbar, and Amrit Patil. Amrit Patil is the father of Rutuja Patil.The complaint in the matter registered by inspector Desai states that the academy director Pravin Patil, through one Mayur Thackeray (who is under the scanner), handed a photocopy of the paper to Rutuja’s father at Pathardi Phata in Nashik. The complaint said the 3 MPSC officials named “received financial benefits”.