Papers hidden in shoes for ₹8,000: Charge-sheet traces Maharashtra TET leak to Agra press

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Maharashtra TET (Teacher Eligibility Test) paper leak main accused Bijendra Kumar Gupta and his associate Indrajit Singh alias Piku were brought to Bhiwandi in Thane. Bijendra Kumar Gupta was arrested in Bihar by Bhiwandi Police. File | Photo Credit: ANI

Thane City Police have filed a nearly 3,500-page charge sheet in the Maharashtra Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) paper-leak case, alleging that confidential question papers were smuggled out of an Agra printing press hidden beneath two employees’ shoe insoles and circulated through an interstate network allegedly masterminded by Bijendra Gupta.

The charge sheet names 18 accused, of whom 16 have been arrested while two — Ashok Sav and Prakash Misal — remain absconding, ACP Bhiwandi Division Vijay Marathe said. Police have traced the leak to the Agra press where the TET papers were printed and have cited the recovery of an original question paper in Bihar, along with financial and technical evidence, to establish the alleged distribution chain.

According to the charge sheet, the source of the leak was Mahim Patran Pvt. Ltd., an Agra-based printing press where the Maharashtra TET question papers were being printed. Investigators allege that two serving employees and a former employee of the press removed the confidential papers by concealing them beneath their shoe insoles and walking past security.

An earlier investigation found that the papers were allegedly removed from the press between June 15 and June 17. The TET had two papers, with two sets of each printed so that one could be selected at random on the examination day. Police allege all four sets were smuggled out, effectively defeating that security safeguard.

Investigators have alleged that the press employees involved were paid ₹8,000 each and were also promised plots of land for facilitating the leak.

Police have identified Gupta as the alleged mastermind of the network, with the remaining accused allegedly playing roles in obtaining and circulating the leaked papers for money. According to Mr Marathe, Gupta had also been involved in an earlier examination paper-leak case in Odisha. Police have been examining his alleged links to other paper-leak cases as part of the wider investigation into the network.

The Maharashtra TET leak first came to light in Bhiwandi on June 27, a day before the examination was scheduled to be held.

According to police, Thane DCP Zone II Pavan Bansod received information that three persons had approached a Bhiwandi resident with a copy of the TET question paper. Police then laid a trap, using decoy personnel, and detained the three men in the Kongaon area.

Four sets of the TET question paper were recovered from the accused during the operation.