MPSC Paper Leak: Mumbai Crime Branch Arrests 12th Accused Amid Ongoing Investigation

Mumbai: The Mumbai Crime Branch arrested the 12th accused in connection with the MPSC paper leak case on Monday. The accused, Mayur Chandrakant Thakre, was apprehended by the Crime Branch's Property Cell on October 12 and is currently being held in police custody until October 17. This marks the completion of the 12 arrests made in the investigation so far.

Earlier this week, the MPSC cancelled the recruitment process for Drug Inspector positions in the Food and Drug Administration department following allegations of irregularities in the examination. Complaints had been lodged alleging that some candidates had received the question paper or questions beforehand and that the material was shared on social media.

In a related development, around 200 protesters at S M Joshi Bridge in Pune temporarily called off their 11-day agitation on Monday. The protesters had been demanding that MPSC chairman Vivek Bhimanwar be removed from his post until an inquiry into the irregularities was completed. The state government agreed to this request, assuring the protesters that Bhimanwar would not remain in charge during the investigation.

The government has also proposed a five-member committee to investigate the alleged irregularities within 60 days, with former judge Dilip Bhosale heading the committee and IAS officer Tukaram Mundhe serving as its secretary.