Exclusive: Maharashtra exam gang busted just before next big leak

According to police, Gupta’s gang was busted two days before the TET exam, for which nearly 6 lakh teachers were due to appear across 1,028 centres in the state on June 28 — the test was postponed following the police action.

The State Eligibility Test (SET) for assistant professors, meanwhile, was to be held on July 26 but was postponed to September following requests from candidates on a popular pilgrimage in the state and to prevent a clash with the Maharashtra State Public Commission (MPSC) exams.

The police have arrested 12 people in the TET paper leak. (Photo specially arranged by Deepak Joshi)

“During interrogation, Bijendra Gupta told us that Sanjay Kumar Sharma, a former employee at the Agra-based printing press from where the TET paper was leaked, had promised to get him the SET paper as well, which was to be printed and dispatched in July,” a police officer said.

The officer said they are verifying Gupta’s claims and will ascertain if the SET papers too were printed at the Mahim Patran Pvt Ltd press from where the TET papers were leaked. Authorities at the printing press did not respond to an emailed request for comment from The Indian Express.

“Gupta has also claimed that Sharma has been in touch with gangs linked to leaking papers across the country and would promise to get them papers in advance in exchange for money,” the officer said.

Gupta was arrested on July 25, and Sharma, along with the two employees of the printing press, was held on July 4. Their interrogation also provided a wider picture of how such gangs operate, officers said.

“On the offline side, gang members travel across the country to identify which printing presses are involved in printing question papers, stake them out and cultivate junior-level employees who are lured into handing over papers,” said an officer, pointing to the Bihar Public Service Commission leak in 2024 involving a Kolkata press.

“Strict checking at printing presses, including removal of belts and shoes, has led accused persons to hide papers below the insole of a shoe to smuggle them out. Another offline route is to cultivate those involved in the paper-setting process itself, as was done during the NEET 2026 papers,” the officer said.

On the online side, the accused allegedly told the police that gangs get permission to run computer centres where candidates appear for exams, then let applicants who are willing to pay complete their biometric verification before leaving, so that another person can take the exam in their place.

“In some cases, the accused obtains remote access to the candidate’s computer using a software and answers the questions while the applicant sits at the terminal pretending to do so. This modus operandi does not relate to the (TET) case at hand, but the information will be passed on to authorities to plug such loopholes,” the officer said.

In the TET case, the police found during interrogation that the plan to leak the paper was allegedly set in motion on June 2, when Agra press employee Babulal Kushwaha claimed he overheard his superiors speaking about the Maharashtra papers being due for printing.

“Kushwaha then relayed this information to Sharma who, through another accused Sonu, contacted Bijendra Gupta and promised to smuggle the paper out. Gupta shelled out around Rs 8,000 for the four TET papers,” the officer said.

Once the papers reached Gupta, the former coaching class teacher used his network in Maharashtra to sell the papers for anywhere between Rs 80,000 and Rs 1.5 lakh, officers said.

The Thane City police busted the case after its DCP (Zone II) Dr Pavan Bansod received a tip-off that the paper was being sold in Bhiwandi city. After sending decoy police personnel, three persons from Haryana and Bihar were arrested with the actual paper on June 26.

Eventually, over the course of more than 15 arrests, the police found that the papers had been smuggled out of the Agra-based printing press by junior employees. “Papers of one state are usually printed at a press in another state, mainly to maintain secrecy,” an officer said.

When contacted, an official from Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU), which conducts SET for assistant professors, said: “We have not received any communication from the police. The SET has been postponed purely because of technical reasons. The exam on July 26 was postponed because there was demand from many candidates, especially those from areas along the Pandharpur Wari (pilgrimage) route, as they would have faced difficulties in commuting.”