Daijiworld Media Network - Thane
Thane, Sep 19: Question papers for the Maharashtra Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) were allegedly smuggled out of a printing press in Agra hidden inside shoe insoles by employees for Rs 8,000 each, 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 examination paper leak in Odisha. Sixteen accused have been arrested, while two key alleged accomplices, Ashok Sav and Prakash Misal, remain absconding.
A senior police official said a supplementary chargesheet would be filed as the investigation progresses.
The racket came to light a day before the TET examination scheduled for June 28, after Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone II) Pavan Bansod received information that three men were attempting to sell examination papers to a Bhiwandi resident.
Police laid a trap using decoy personnel in the Kongaon area and detained the suspects. Four sets of question papers were seized, and subsequent verification with Maharashtra State Council of Examination (MSCE) officials confirmed that the papers matched the actual examination material.
The accused have been charged under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) relating to cheating, criminal breach of trust and criminal conspiracy, along with provisions of Maharashtra laws dealing with examination malpractices and unfair means.
A Special Investigation Team (SIT) is probing the case.
According to the chargesheet, the leak was traced to Mahim Patran Pvt. Ltd., an Agra-based printing press entrusted with printing confidential TET examination materials.
Between June 15 and June 17, two employees and a former staffer of the press allegedly concealed folded question papers inside their shoe insoles to bypass security checks. The security guards frisked their clothes but allegedly did not check their footwear.
To prevent leaks, the state had prepared four separate sets covering the two TET papers, with one set to be selected randomly on examination day. However, the accused allegedly managed to take all four sets out of the printing press.
The chargesheet states that the press workers were paid Rs 8,000 each and were also promised land plots in Agra in exchange for stealing the examination material.
Police have identified Gupta, a former coaching-class teacher, as the alleged mastermind of the interstate racket. An official said he had previously been implicated in another examination paper leak case in Odisha.
Besides money trails and technical logs, police have cited the recovery of an original question paper from the Bihar residence of Gupta's relative as key physical evidence in establishing the alleged supply chain.