Mumbai: The crime branch probing the Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC) exam leak has said that Rutuja Patil, who cleared the exams for FDA inspectors, had asked her boyfriend Gaurav Patil to arrange Rs 5 lakh for payment to officials for the question paper. Gaurav reportedly refused because of financial constraints, police said.Rutuja’s father Amrit Patil arranged the money, police said. Rutuja is on the run while Amrit Patil is in police custody.Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday said that no one will be spared in the MPSC drug inspector exam paper leak case regardless of who it is or the political party. “Stern action is happening and it will happen,” he said.Fadnavis said that, according to the police, there was no mass paper leak and it was leaked to only one individual, but despite that as a matter of precaution the MPSC has scrapped the entire recruitment process.Fadnavis said the state govt has set up a committee to recommend reforms in holding examinations and MPSC has also been asked to carry out internal reforms.Fadnavis took a dig at NCP (SP) MLA Rohit Pawar saying that some people were trying to bring politics into these exams. “This is not right. BJP spokesperson Navnath Ban has exposed whose worker Sunil Gadhave is. So we now know his background, so people must not indulge in politics on this subject,” Fadnavis said.Ban alleged that Sunil Gadhave, who is among those accused in the MPSC drug inspector examination paper leak case, is a close associate of Pawar and demanded that Pawar should clarify his exact association with Gadhave.Rohit also hit back at Fadnavis over the allegations linking him to Gadhave. “I heard your reaction regarding the worker who leaked the paper. When such a serious and sensitive matter as MPSC’s paper being leaked has arisen, for you to respond by referencing posts written by those 40-paise trolls is utterly unbecoming of the CM of the state. If you want to show photos, we can show thousands of (Gadhave) photos with BJP leaders. Be that as it may—if you’re going to reference trolls, I was surprised to learn that you yourself appointed my worker as the OSD directly to the Pune Mayor in the Pune Municipal Corporation, where your own BJP holds power. The time hasn’t passed yet—show a little seriousness, first remove from the chairperson position of the commission that close friend of yours whom you’ve seated there, and place a clean person in that spot,” Rohit said in a post on X.The crime branch searched the residences of some of the accused in Nandurbar and are now scrutinising bank transactions, digital communications and other financial records to establish the money trail to identify those who paid for the leaked paper and determine whether anyone apart from the suspected beneficiary benefited from the racket.According to police, the alleged plan was hatched in March and the paper was leaked two days before the examination. Police suspect that Amrit Patil, a teacher and father of Rutuja Patil, who was preparing for the examination, approached Pravin Patil. Investigators allege that Pravin then contacted MPSC official Gopal Marathe, who took two other officials into confidence.Investigators allege that one of the accused, Vishweshwar Nakate, who was coordinating the examination, obtained 294 questions prepared by experts and created a separate question set. He allegedly handed the set to under secretary Lendve in the parking area of the MPSC office. Lendve allegedly passed it to Marathe at the same location, following which Marathe allegedly handed it to Pravin Patil inside the commission premises.Police are also probing allegations that a photocopy of the question paper was handed over to Amrit Patil at Pathardi Phata in Nashik through intermediary Mayur Thackeray, who is currently absconding.
