Mumbai Police on Wednesday arrested six people, including three Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC) officials, over the alleged leak of a question paper for the Drug Inspector (Group-B) screening examination conducted earlier this year.
The arrested accused have been identified as, MPSC's Assistant Section Officers Vishweshwar Dattatraya Nakate and Gopal Bhattu Marathe, MPSC Under Secretary Abhijit Ganpatrao Lendwe, director of Kautilya Academy in Nandurbar Pravin Dilip Patil, and two alleged co-conspirators, Amrut Namdeo Patil and Lokesh alias Gaurav Rajendra Patil, the Crime Branch officials said.
The accused allegedly accessed the examination questions ahead of the test, compiled them into a separate set, and distributed it to unauthorised persons, officials said.
The case pertains to the offline screening test conducted on March 22 for the posts of Drug Inspector (Group-B) under the Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration Department.
Police said experts had set the question papers under strict confidentiality protocols. However, the suspects allegedly breached the confidential process, obtained the questions prior to the examination, compiled a duplicate set, and circulated it among unauthorised individuals.
Preliminary investigations confirmed a breach in the confidentiality surrounding the MPSC examination process. Following a complaint filed by Mangesh Desai, Police Inspector attached to the Property Cell of the Crime Branch, an FIR was registered on Tuesday.
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, dealing with offences including cheating, criminal breach of trust, criminal conspiracy, and corruption by public servants.
All six accused were produced before a sessions court here, which remanded them in police custody until September 2, the official added.
The MPSC earlier announced cancellation of the recruitment process for Drug Inspector Group-B posts following a preliminary inquiry into the alleged malpractice in the screening examination.
A police inquiry prima facie indicated that one candidate had received the question set before the examination and had benefited from it, the MPSC said, adding that it had taken into consideration the seriousness of the findings before deciding to cancel the recruitment process.
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.
According to the complaints, some candidates had allegedly received the question paper or questions before the examination. It was also alleged that the question material had been made available through social media and other electronic means.
Taking note of the seriousness and sensitivity of the allegations, the MPSC approached the Mumbai Police Commissioner on July 27 and requested an inquiry into the complaints.
A preliminary inquiry was subsequently conducted by the Crime Investigation Branch of the Mumbai Police. The Deputy Commissioner of Police, Crime Investigation Branch, submitted the preliminary inquiry report to the commission.
According to the findings mentioned in the MPSC's statement, the police inquiry prima facie indicated that one candidate had received the question set before the examination and had benefited from it.
(With inputs from PTI)