MPSC paper leak case: Accused destroyed phones to destroy evidence, say cops

MUMBAI: The four men arrested in the MPSC drug inspector examination paper leak case allegedly damaged or dumped their mobile phones and laptops to destroy evidence, the Mumbai crime branch said, as investigators began efforts to recover the devices and trace the money allegedly paid for the leaked paper

MUMBAI: The four men arrested in the MPSC drug inspector examination paper leak case allegedly damaged or dumped their mobile phones and laptops to destroy evidence, the Mumbai crime branch said, as investigators began efforts to recover the devices and trace the money allegedly paid for the leaked paper. Police said three candidates who allegedly received the paper went on to rank third, fourth and seventh in the examination.

MPSC paper leak case: Accused destroyed phones to destroy evidence, say cops

Investigators said two groups were allegedly involved in the leak. One was allegedly run by MPSC under secretary Abhijit Lendave, who has already been arrested, while the other was allegedly operated by Kautaliya Academy director Pravin Patil.

Police said Lendave allegedly supplied the paper to Sajid Sande of Sangli and Vijay Kingar of Buldhana through middlemen Sandeep Kalate and Bhairavnath Kadam from Navi Mumbai. According to police, the deal was for between ₹15 lakh and ₹20 lakh. Sande ranked third and Kingar fourth in the examination.

“The question paper was leaked to the recently arrested accused Sajid Sande and Vijay Kingar by Lendave,” a police officer said.

The second group was allegedly operated by Patil, who is accused of giving the leaked paper to Rutuja Patil of Nandurbar. She ranked seventh. Police said Rutuja had claimed in chats that ₹50 lakh was paid for the paper, although investigators believe the amount was lower.

The crime branch said 77 questions from a confidential set of 294 questions prepared by experts appeared in the examination conducted on March 22.

Police alleged that MPSC official Vishweshwar Nakate stole questions from the confidential set, copied them onto his laptop and gave them to Lendave. Investigators said Nakate subsequently destroyed his laptop. Lendave allegedly passed the questions to middlemen in Navi Mumbai, while another MPSC official, Gopal Marathe of Nandurbar, allegedly gave the material to Patil.

Police said the gap between the March 22 examination and the July 22 declaration of results gave the accused enough time to allegedly destroy the evidence.

“We are trying to find the mobile phones or laptops destroyed by the accused. They have thrown mobile phones and laptops in water as well,” the officer said.

The crime branch is also probing the money trail. Police said they have secured custody of Sande, Kingar, Kalate and Kadam till Saturday.

The alleged leak surfaced after Gaurav Patil, Rutuja’s boyfriend, emailed the MPSC on July 22, the day the results were declared, alleging that questions from the examination had been leaked. Gaurav has also been arrested after allegedly receiving the leaked question set from Rutuja. Police said he blew the whistle on the alleged operation after Rutuja ended their relationship following her success in the examination.