3 officials, jilted boyfriend, among six held for MPSC exam leak in Mumbai

The arrests were made for leaking an examination held for the post of drug inspector (Group B) conducted by the Maharashtra Public Service Commission.

MUMBAI: Six persons were arrested on Wednesday for leaking the question paper of an examination held for the post of drug inspector (Group B) conducted by the Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC) in March.

One of those arrested had enrolled with Kautalya Coaching Classes, which had allegedly told its students it could gain access to the MPSC question paper. (HT Photo)

The arrests include an undersecretary with the MPSC, and a 24-year-old who tipped off the MPSC to take revenue on his girlfriend. The young woman had dumped him after she passed the exam with flying colours.

Police said those arrested were: Gaurav Patil, alias Lokesh, 24, the jilted boyfriend; Abhijit Lendave, 38, undersecretary with the MPSC; assistant section officers with the MPSC Gopal Marathe, 37 and Vishweshwar Nakate, 35; Pravin Patil, 40, director of Nandurbar-based Kautalya Coaching Classes; and Amrut Namdeo Patil, 55, a school teacher, who had secured the leaked question set from Pravin Patil for his daughter Rujuta.

The MPSC had received a complaint via email on July 22, claiming that the question set of the March 22 examination had leaked. The e-mail had been sent by Gaurav Patil. The MPSC informed the Mumbai crime branch, which initiated an investigation. “We submitted a preliminary report and on Wednesday registered a case in the matter,” said deputy commissioner of police, Raj Tilak Roshan.

When police questioned Gaurav, a pharma company employee from Malegaon in Nashik, they learnt that his girlfriend, Rutuja Patil, had decided to take the examination for the post of drug inspector after spotting an advertisement on July 29, 2025.

Rutuja had enrolled with Kautalya Coaching Classes, which had allegedly told its students it could gain access to the question paper. Rutuja’s father, Amrut Patil, a school teacher, had allegedly offered the coaching class director, Pravin Patil, ₹5 lakh in return for the leaked question set.

Police said MPSC official Vishweshwar Nakate procured the question set from the MPSC office and handed it to Abhijit Lendave, the MPSC undersecretary, in the parking lot of the MPSC headquarters in Navi Mumbai. Lendave, in turn, gave it to MPSC official Gopal Marathe, who handed it to Pravin Patil, the coaching class director. He in turn gave the leaked paper to Rutuja’s father on March 20, two days before the exam was held.

Police said 77 questions from the leaked set overlapped with the 294 questions in the exam paper.

The results of the exam were announced on June 12 and Rutuja passed with flying colours. The final results were declared on July 22, where 488 candidates were cleared.

Police said Rutuja had shared the leaked questions with Gaurav, whose brother had taken the drug inspector’s exam. But she started avoiding Gaurav after she cleared further rounds in the recruitment process, and eventually broke up with him. Her family had refused to consent to her marrying Gaurav.

Infuriated, Gaurav tipped off the MPSC about the paper leak via email, which kicked off the investigation, said a police officer. He said Gaurav developed cold feet and tried to withdraw his complaint, but police were already on to him.

The MPSC has cancelled the selection process and will be taking a re-examination.

“We have registered a case at the Cuffe-Parade police station under sections 112 (petty organised crime), 316 (criminal breach of trust), 318 (cheating), 238 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence), 317 (stolen property), 303 (theft) and 61 (criminal conspiracy) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, and various sections of the Maharashtra Competitive Examination (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024,” said the police officer.

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Rohit Pawar has alleged in the past that the MPSC drug inspector paper was sold for around ₹12 lakh at the Kautalya Classes in Nandurbar two days prior to the examination. The advance payment was ₹5 lakh and the total sum was ₹12 lakh, Pawar has claimed.