Mumbai, September 1, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
The Mumbai Police Crime Branch on Tuesday arrested Rutuja Patil, who secured seventh rank in the provisional merit list for the Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC) Drug Inspector Group-B recruitment examination, in connection with the alleged question paper leak.
Patil was taken into custody by a Crime Branch team from Nandurbar, days after the MPSC cancelled the recruitment process following a preliminary inquiry into alleged irregularities in the examination.
The Mumbai Police have so far arrested seven people in the case, including three MPSC officials. The Drug Inspector screening examination was conducted under the Food and Drug Administration Department earlier this year.
According to the preliminary police investigation, at least one candidate allegedly received access to the question paper before the examination and benefited from the leaked material. Complaints received by the police alleged that some candidates had obtained question papers in advance, with social media and other electronic platforms being used to circulate the material to prospective buyers.
The MPSC subsequently cancelled the recruitment process, citing the seriousness of the findings.
Patil, 25, had recently spoken about an alleged plan to conceal irregularities in the examination. She reportedly told reporters that she had been instructed to deliberately answer 10 of the 100 questions incorrectly in the Drug Inspector examination held on March 22.
According to her account, she was allegedly warned that answering all 100 questions correctly could raise suspicion.
Police investigations reportedly found that the leaked question paper had reached Patil through her father, who allegedly received it from other sources. Patil then allegedly passed the question set to her boyfriend, Gaurav Patil, on March 20, two days before the examination.
The alleged leak came to light after the couple fell out over personal issues, following which Gaurav reportedly approached the police and provided digital evidence of the questions that had allegedly been sent to him by Patil.
The subsequent investigation led to the arrests of several people, including MPSC officials, in the alleged examination scam.
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