Mumbai Police arrest MPSC Drug Inspector exam ranker in paper leak case

The Mumbai Police Crime Branch has arrested Rutuja Patil, the seventh-ranked candidate in the Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC) Drug Inspector examination, in connection with a paper leak investigation. Patil was apprehended in Nandurbar, bringing the total number of individuals in custody to seven.

Investigators allege that Patil had access to the question paper before the exam. To avoid detection, she was reportedly instructed to deliberately answer 10 questions incorrectly, as a perfect score on a difficult exam might have drawn scrutiny.

The MPSC has cancelled the entire recruitment process for the 154 gazetted Drug Inspector posts within the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) following the discovery of these irregularities. The screening examination was originally conducted offline on March 22. Prior to Patil's arrest, six other individuals, including three MPSC officials, had been taken into custody. The case has been registered under the Maharashtra Competitive Examination (Prevention of Malpractices) Act, 2024, and the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.