Mumbai, June 29: The investigation into the alleged leak of the 2026 Maharashtra Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) question paper has widened, with the Thane police forming a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe what officials believe is a multi-state examination racket.

The case came to light on June 27, a day before the scheduled examination, when the police arrested three men from Kongaon village near Bhiwandi and allegedly recovered four copies of the TET-2026 question paper.

Education department officials later confirmed that the seized papers matched the original examination paper.

The arrested accused have been identified as Akash Kumar (30) and Rajiv Shah (45), both from Patna in Bihar, and Dhiraj Kumar (28) from Panipat in Haryana.

According to investigators, the trio allegedly planned to sell the leaked question papers to candidates for nearly ₹1.5 crore.

Following the recovery, authorities postponed the Maharashtra TET examination scheduled for June 28, affecting over six lakh candidates across the state.

The three accused were produced before a Bhiwandi court, where the prosecution sought 10 days of police custody, arguing that the investigation involved an interstate network and required teams to travel across multiple states.

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Timeline of the Maharashtra TET paper leak, from the arrest of three accused and exam cancellation to the SIT probe and hunt for the alleged Bihar mastermind. (Credit: AI)

The court, however, remanded them to eight days in police custody. During the hearing, the police identified Bihar resident Bijender Gupta as the alleged mastermind behind the paper leak.

Investigators told the court that Gupta had allegedly been linked to around 20 paper leak cases across different states.

Another accused, Kapil Dahia from Haryana, has also been named in the case. Both Gupta and Dahia are absconding and have been declared wanted.

Additional Commissioner of Police Ashok Dudhe said teams had been dispatched to other states to trace the two accused and investigate their alleged role in the racket.

Meanwhile, counsel for accused Dhiraj Kumar requested the court to direct the police to provide proper medical care, stating that his client had recently undergone bariatric surgery.

The police assured the court that adequate treatment would be provided during custody. The defence also claimed Kumar had been falsely implicated and was travelling from Delhi to Mumbai when he was arrested.

As the probe expanded, the Thane police constituted an SIT under the supervision of Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Panjabrao Ugle, with Deputy Commissioner of Police Pawan Bansod heading the team.

 

The SIT includes two assistant commissioners, nine inspectors and 20 other personnel, and is now investigating the alleged multi-state network behind the paper leak.