Two employees allegedly smuggled Maharashtra Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) question papers out of an Agra printing press for just Rs 8,000, by hiding them inside shoe insoles, according to a nearly 3,500-page chargesheet filed by Thane City police.
The chargesheet, submitted before a local court in Bhiwandi on Friday, names 18 accused, including alleged mastermind Bijendra Gupta, who was previously implicated in an Odisha paper leak, with 16 suspects already arrested and two key accomplices, Ashok Sav and Prakash Misal, remaining absconding as investigations continue.
A senior police official said that a supplementary chargesheet will be submitted as further investigation progresses.
The racket unravelled a day before the examination scheduled on June 28 after Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone II) Pavan Bansod received a tip-off about three men attempting to sell exam papers to a Bhiwandi resident.
Police laid a trap using decoy personnel in the Kongaon area, detained the suspects, and seized four sets of question papers. Subsequent verification with Maharashtra State Council of Examination (MSCE) officials confirmed that the seized material matched the actual question paper.
The accused have been charged under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) related to cheating, criminal breach of trust, and criminal conspiracy, along with Maharashtra state laws on examination malpractices and unfair means.
A Special Investigation Team (SIT) is probing the case.
According to the chargesheet, the source of the leak was traced to Mahim Patran Pvt. Ltd., an Agra-based printing press tasked with printing the confidential TET examination materials.
Between June 15 and June 17, two employees and a former staffer of the press allegedly concealed folded question papers in their shoe insoles to bypass security guards, who frisked their clothes but neglected the footwear.
To maintain exam integrity, the state had prepared four separate sets across two TET papers so that one could be randomly selected on exam day. But the perpetrators managed to sneak out all four sets past the security safeguard.
The press workers were paid a mere Rs 8,000 each and promised land plots in Agra in exchange for stealing the exam materials, the chargesheet stated.
Police have identified Gupta, a former coaching class teacher, as the alleged mastermind of the interstate racket. He was previously implicated in another examination paper leak in Odisha, the official said.
In addition to money trails and technical logs, the police have cited the recovery of an original question paper from the Bihar residence of Gupta's relative as a key piece of physical evidence establishing the supply chain.
(With inputs from PTI)
