The News Minute| June 19, 2014| 3:10 pm ISTFive candidates for the Mumbai Police recruitment drive lost their lives in the final round of the physical fitness tests. The candidates were all between 18 and 25 years of age. It took the Mumbai Police these five lives to shift the timing of the physical tests to a more appropriate time of the day and improve the facilities for medical emergencies. However, this was not the first case of its kind. Cases had been reported from Amreli, Gujarat and Lucknow, UP in 2012 and 2013 respectively. The Mumbai Police had received over one lakh applications for the recruitment which began on the 10th of June along with the other Maharashtra units. The physical tests round was part of the second stage of the recruitment process. 52,385 applicants had been short-listed for this round where they had to undergo five tests for 20 marks each. It was in the final test, the 5km run, during which the candidates collapsed and died after being admitted to different hospitals. Six more candidates are believed to be in critical condition.Mumbai Police Commissioner Rakesh Maria accepted responsibility for the deaths and has announced that the Crime Branch will probe the case. Meanwhile, Kirit Somaiya, MP from Mumbai North-East filed a complaint at Vikhroli police station which is also being forwarded to the Crime Branch. A petition was filed before the Bombay High Court by the All Maharashtra Human Right Welfare Association (AMHRWA). The court has taken suo motu cognisance of the deaths and issued notices to the State Government, the State Home Ministry and the State DGP. The authorities are to respond by the 23rd of June. At the time the petition was filed, the death toll was four and seven more candidates were believed to be hospitalized in critical condition. Both the AMHRWA and the State Human Rights Commission have sought for the government to pay the hospital expenses of the candidates. Rakesh Maria, in a statement to the Indian Express, said that some of the candidates were unfit for physical tests but were determined to run as they came from poor families.The recruitment process has now been postponed by over a week and the 5km runs which were held in the morning will now be held after five in the evening. Maria also added that 100 doctors will be made available at the camp and they will examine the candidates before they take part in the run.