25 July,2026 03:27 PM IST | Thane | mid-day online correspondent
Representational Image
The alleged mastermind behind the Maharashtra Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) 2026 paper leak was arrested from Bihar along with an associate, taking the total number of arrests in the case to 14, a senior police official said on Saturday.
The accused, identified as Vijayendrakumar Gupta alias Bijendra Kumar Gupta, and his associate Indrajit Singh were arrested on Friday by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the case, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Bhiwandi Zone-II) Pawan Bansode said.
According to police, the SIT had been tracking Gupta for several weeks after he emerged as the alleged chief coordinator of an inter-state paper leak network.
Following their arrest in Bihar, Gupta and Singh were brought to Pune on Saturday before being taken to Bhiwandi, where they are scheduled to be produced before a court to seek police custody for further interrogation.
"The total number of arrests in the case has now reached 14," Bansode told PTI.
Investigators are expected to question the duo to identify other members of the alleged network and trace the broader conspiracy behind the examination paper leak.
With the latest arrests, the number of accused held in the case has risen to 14.
Those arrested earlier include Rajiv Shaw, Akash Kumar, Dheeraj Singh, Sonu Singh, Mithun Singh, Kapil Dahiya, Suman Kumari Gupta - the wife of Vijayendrakumar Gupta - and Agra-based private printing press employees Nareshkumar Mahore, Sanjaykumar Sharma and Babulal Kushwaha.
Police suspect the accused were part of an organised network involved in leaking confidential examination papers before the scheduled test.
The case came to light on June 27, when Bhiwandi police, acting on confidential intelligence, raided a location and seized copies of unauthorised TET question papers.
Subsequent verification by officials of the Maharashtra State Council of Examination (MSCE) confirmed that the seized papers matched the actual question paper prepared for the TET examination scheduled to be held on June 28 at 1,028 examination centres across the state.
The discovery prompted authorities to postpone the examination before it was conducted.
Following the detection of the leak, an FIR was registered at the Bhiwandi Police Station and the Maharashtra government constituted a Special Investigation Team to probe the case.
Investigators are examining the role of multiple accused, the alleged inter-state network involved in the leak, and how confidential examination material was accessed and circulated ahead of the test.
Police said further custodial interrogation of the alleged mastermind and his associate is expected to help uncover the full extent of the racket and identify any additional individuals involved.
