Did Not Study, Got Questions in Advance for Rs 50L: WhatsApp Chats Expose MPSC Drug Inspector Exam Leak

According to the recent media report in the Times of India, investigators have recovered WhatsApp conversations in which Rutuja allegedly confided in a female friend that she had obtained the Drug Inspector examination paper beforehand and had paid Rs 50 lakh for it. The disclosure has emerged as a potentially significant lead because, if independently corroborated, it could broaden the scope of the investigation beyond the six accused arrested so far and help investigators trace the financial trail behind the alleged leak.

As per the conversation transcript being examined by investigators, Rutuja's friend questioned her about how she had managed to prepare for what was considered a difficult examination. Rutuja allegedly responded, “I didn’t study,” accompanied by a smiley. When her friend subsequently asked how she had managed to take the examination without studying, Rutuja allegedly made a startling disclosure: “Don’t tell anyone. I had received the question paper in advance.”

The friend then reportedly sought to know how Rutuja had managed to obtain the paper. However, Rutuja allegedly declined to disclose the source and repeatedly cautioned her friend against sharing the information with anyone, including colleagues at her workplace. The conversation eventually culminated in another significant alleged admission: “I paid Rs 50 lakh for the Drug Inspector exam.”

The Crime Branch is now working to determine whether the Rs 50 lakh payment referred to in the conversation was actually made, how such a transaction may have been arranged, who allegedly received the money and whether any other individuals financially benefited from the suspected paper leak. The financial aspect of the case could become particularly significant in establishing the wider chain behind the alleged procurement and distribution of examination material.

Investigators have also uncovered material suggesting that efforts may have been made to prevent Rutuja's examination performance from appearing unusually perfect and thereby attracting scrutiny.

According to the Crime Branch, the allegedly leaked material consisted of 294 questions. Investigators subsequently compared those questions with the actual MPSC Drug Inspector examination paper and found that 77 of them matched questions that ultimately appeared in the examination.

Police have additionally recovered chats that allegedly instructed Rutuja to intentionally answer 10 questions incorrectly. Investigators suspect that the purpose behind such an instruction was to avoid an exceptionally high or perfect score that could raise suspicion if a candidate had received examination questions beforehand.

The alleged instruction, the recovered digital conversations and the 77 questions said to correspond with the actual examination are now being scrutinised by investigators as part of the evidence being assembled against the accused.

Another major strand of the investigation centres on Rutuja's relationship with Lokesh alias Gaurav Rajendra Patil. According to police, Gaurav and Rutuja were in a relationship while she was preparing for the MPSC Drug Inspector examination.

Investigators suspect that Gaurav obtained questions from the examination paper before the test scheduled for March 22 and subsequently shared them with Rutuja to assist her in clearing the examination. Police said Rutuja later succeeded in the exam.

The Crime Branch has further alleged that Rutuja asked Gaurav to arrange Rs 5 lakh, which was purportedly required to be paid to officials in connection with obtaining the question paper. Gaurav allegedly declined to arrange the amount, citing his financial limitations.

Investigators allege that Rutuja's father, Amrit Patil, subsequently stepped in and arranged the money.

However, the relationship between Rutuja and Gaurav later deteriorated and the couple eventually separated. Investigators believe that the bitter end to their relationship became a turning point in bringing the suspected examination leak to the attention of authorities.

Following the breakup, Gaurav allegedly approached the MPSC and informed the commission about the suspected leakage of the Drug Inspector examination paper. According to investigators, this disclosure ultimately triggered the inquiry that developed into the present criminal investigation.

Despite the widening investigation and multiple arrests, Crime Branch officials have said that evidence gathered so far does not suggest that the examination paper was leaked on a mass scale to a large number of candidates.

DCP (Crime) Raj Tilak Roshan said, “The inquiry commission found only one candidate had received the question set and benefited from it.”

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis also stated on Thursday that the police investigation so far indicated that the examination paper had not reached a large group of candidates but had instead been supplied to one individual.

Nevertheless, given the seriousness of the allegations and concerns surrounding the integrity of the recruitment exercise, the MPSC cancelled the entire recruitment process as a precautionary measure.

Roshan said investigators believe questions were illegally accessed from a question set that had been prepared by experts. According to the Crime Branch, another question paper was then allegedly created using the questions obtained from that set and subsequently circulated among other individuals.

The investigation is therefore concentrating on three crucial aspects: how access to the original expert-prepared question set was obtained, the route through which the extracted questions were subsequently circulated, and whether candidates or other individuals were asked to make payments in return for receiving the material.

So far, the Mumbai Crime Branch has arrested six people in connection with the alleged examination paper leak. Those arrested are Gaurav Patil; MPSC assistant cell officer Vishweshwar Nakate; MPSC under secretary Abhijit Lendve; MPSC assistant cell officer Gopal Marathe; Kautilya Academy director Pravin Patil; and Rutuja's father, Amrit Patil.

Rutuja, meanwhile, remains absconding as the investigation continues.

The complaint lodged by Crime Branch inspector Mangesh Desai lays out the alleged route through which the examination material reached Rutuja's family. According to the complaint, Kautilya Academy director Pravin Patil allegedly procured the paper through Mayur Thackeray, who has also come under the scanner during the investigation.

Pravin Patil allegedly subsequently handed over a photocopy of the paper to Rutuja's father, Amrit Patil, at Pathardi Phata in Nashik.

The complaint further alleges that three MPSC officials received financial benefits in connection with the matter. Investigators are examining the suspected monetary transactions to determine the precise role of each individual and establish whether the alleged financial benefits were linked directly to access to the examination material.

Crime Branch teams have also conducted searches at the residences of accused persons in Nandurbar. As part of the investigation, officials are scrutinising bank transactions and digital communications in an attempt to reconstruct both the financial and communication networks allegedly involved in the case.

Reacting to the developments, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said on Thursday that stringent action would be taken against anyone found involved in the alleged examination leak, irrespective of the individual's identity or political association. “Stern action is happening and it will happen,” he told TOI.

Fadnavis further said that the Maharashtra government had constituted a committee tasked with recommending reforms in the manner examinations are conducted. The MPSC has also been directed to introduce internal reforms aimed at strengthening the examination process.

The case has simultaneously triggered a political confrontation. Fadnavis accused opposition leaders of attempting to politicise the examination-leak controversy and referred specifically to NCP (SP) MLA Rohit Pawar.

The Chief Minister cited BJP spokesperson Navnath Ban's allegation concerning accused Sunil Gadhave and his purported association with Pawar. Ban had alleged that Gadhave was a close associate of the NCP (SP) legislator.

Pawar responded to Fadnavis on X, arguing that it was inappropriate for the Chief Minister to introduce politics into a serious case concerning an alleged examination paper leak. He further contended that if the government intended to rely on photographs to demonstrate Gadhave's links with political personalities, he could similarly produce “thousands” of photographs showing Gadhave with BJP leaders.

The investigation is now examining the alleged Rs 50 lakh payment, the WhatsApp exchanges, the source from which the question set was accessed, the alleged circulation of 77 matching questions, the purported instruction to deliberately answer 10 questions incorrectly, and the financial and digital records of those under investigation. With six people already arrested and Rutuja Patil still absconding, investigators are seeking to establish the complete chain through which the examination material was allegedly obtained and circulated, as well as identify who ultimately received or benefited from the money allegedly paid for advance access to the MPSC Drug Inspector examination questions.