The court remanded Rutuja Patil to police custody till September 5, and extended the police custody of the six co-accused, including her father and ex-boyfriend till September 7
Police claim Nakate, who was coordinating the exam, had recorded all 294 questions, along with their options, on the laptop. The Bombay High Court has designated 23 additional special fast-track courts across Maharashtra to ensure speedy trials in examination paper leak and related malpractice cases. The court remanded Rutuja to police custody till September 5, and extended the custody of Nakate, Lendve, Marathe, Pravin, Amrit and Gaurav till September 7.
Police told the court that they want to establish the sequence in which the leaked question set allegedly reached Rutuja, who is suspected to be the beneficiary candidate in the case. He allegedly handed it to under secretary Abhijit Lendve in MPSC’s parking area. Lendve allegedly gave it to MPSC official Gopal Bhatt, who then gave it to coaching class director Pravin Patil on MPSC premises.
This is probably among the first cases before the newly formed special fast-track courts in the city. The crime branch is also probing the roles of the co-accused and their alleged conspiracy in accessing and distributing the question paper before the examination. On Wednesday, Rutuja, the seventh accused arrested in the alleged paper leak case, was produced before a special fast-track court, along with six other accused, including her ex-boyfriend Gaurav and father Amrit Patil.
The remand report showed that Rutuja’s phone is yet to be seized as it is relevant on the point of discovery of leakage of question paper. The court stated that in such a case, the reasons given in the remand-report are well founded and the police custody would be justified. Presence of present accused would be necessary with police to facilitate the investigation on discovery of material facts into the offence. The court, while extending their custody, observed that the accused had specific and distinguishing roles but appeared to have acted in conspiracy. It noted that a detailed investigation was required and that custodial interrogation was necessary to facilitate the discovery of material facts.