MPSC aspirants get phone calls offering exam paper for Rs 40 lakh in Pune; 3 held

Pune: Pune police have arrested three persons who allegedly called up aspirants preparing for the Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC) exam and offered them the question paper for Rs 40 lakh, police said on Sunday.

However, there was no evidence that the question paper had been leaked, they said.

An official said the Pune police's crime branch on Saturday arrested the accused, Deepak Gayaram Gaydhane, Sumit Kailas Jadhav and Yogesh Surendra Waghmare.

He said Suvarna Kharat, the secretary of MPSC, lodged a police complaint on Friday that some students preparing for the competitive exam received phone calls from an unknown number, with the caller offering them the exam paper for Rs 40 lakh.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (crime branch) Nikhil Pingle said, "Three persons have been arrested in the case so far. Two accused were apprehended from the Chakan area, while another man was arrested from Nagpur." He said as per the investigations so far, there is no evidence of the exam paper being leaked, and the matter is being probed further.

The official said the police have also recovered a list of 24 students the accused have called or were planning to call.

A case has been registered against the trio under sections 62, 318 (4), 353 1(B) and other relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita and the Maharashtra Competitive Exam Act, police said.