Thane, Sep 19: Question papers for the Maharashtra Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) were allegedly smuggled out of a printing press in Agra by employees who concealed the papers inside their shoe insoles, according to a nearly 3,500-page chargesheet filed by Thane City police.
The chargesheet, submitted before a court in Bhiwandi on Friday, names 18 accused. Sixteen have been arrested, while two alleged accomplices, Ashok Sav and Prakash Misal, remain absconding.
The case came to light a day before the TET examination scheduled for June 28, after Deputy Commissioner of Police Pavan Bansod received information that three men were trying to sell the question papers to a resident of Bhiwandi. Police deployed decoy personnel in the Kongaon area, intercepted the suspects and seized four sets of question papers. Officials of the Maharashtra State Council of Examination later confirmed that the papers matched the actual examination material.
The investigation traced the source of the leak to Mahim Patran Pvt. Ltd., an Agra-based printing press responsible for printing the confidential TET papers. Between June 15 and 17, two employees and a former staffer allegedly concealed folded question papers inside their shoe insoles to get them past security guards. The guards reportedly checked their clothes but did not inspect their footwear.
The state had prepared four separate sets covering two TET papers, with one set to be selected on the day of the examination. According to the chargesheet, the accused managed to take all four sets out of the printing facility.
The employees were allegedly paid ₹8,000 each and were also promised land plots in Agra for stealing the examination material.
Police have identified Bijendra Gupta, a former coaching-class teacher, as the alleged mastermind of the interstate paper-leak network. Officials said Gupta had previously been implicated in an examination paper-leak case in Odisha.
The investigation has also traced money transactions and technical records linked to the alleged racket. Police cited the recovery of an original question paper from the Bihar residence of Gupta’s relative as important physical evidence in establishing the alleged supply chain.
The accused have been booked under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita dealing with cheating, criminal breach of trust and criminal conspiracy, besides provisions of Maharashtra laws relating to examination malpractice and unfair means.
A Special Investigation Team is probing the case, and police said a supplementary chargesheet would be filed if further investigation uncovers additional evidence or suspects.(PTI)
