Bihar man is Maharashtra TET paper leak kingpin, court told; 3 sent to police custody

The Bhiwandi court on Sunday remanded the three men arrested in connection with the leak of the 2026 Maharashtra Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) question paper to eight days in police custody.During the hearing, the police informed the court that Bihar resident Bijender Gupta was the alleged kingpin of the paper leak racket and he had been involved in at least 20 paper leak incidents across several states. Both Gupta and Haryana resident Kapil Dahia, named as wanted accused in the case, were currently absconding, the police told the court.The three accused who were arrested from the outskirts of Bhiwwandi on Saturday were Patna residents Akash Kumar, 30, and Rajiv Shah, 45, and Dhiraj Kumar, 28, from Panipat in Haryana. All three were presented before judge SM Sutar on Sunday.Assistant Commissioner of Police (Thane police) Vijay Marathe represented the prosecution and sought 10 days of police custody for the accused, saying the police suspected they were part of a multi-state paper leak racket and investigation teams would need to visit multiple locations across the country. The judge however remanded the accused to eight days in police custody.Advocate Satender Redhu, counsel for Dhiraj Kumar, requested the court to direct the police to provide his client with adequate medical care, as he had recently undergone bariatric surgery for weight reduction. The Thane police assured the court that Kumar would receive proper medical care while in custody. Advocate Redhu also informed the court that his client had been falsely implicated in the case. Kumar was travelling from Delhi to Mumbai by train with his friends when he was arrested by the police, the lawyer said.Ashok Dudhe, Additional Commissioner of Police, Thane Western Zone, said that the roles of the two absconding accused – alleged kingpin Bijender Gupta and co-accused Kapil Dahia – were being investigated, and they had been declared wanted.Also Read: Amid NEET backlash, govt under fire for Maharashtra TET 2026 paper leak: 'Is there any exam left?'“We are probing their involvement in the case. Our teams have also been sent to other states for further investigation,” Dudhe informed the court.On Saturday, the three arrested accused were nabbed from Kongaon village, a rapidly developing area located around 5 km from Bhiwandi city. The police recovered four sets of the TET-2026 question paper from the accused, which officials from the education department confirmed were copies of the actual question paper meant for the examination scheduled on Sunday. The exam was subsequently postponed, leaving more than 600,000 candidates in disarray.According to the police, the three accused were hoping to make ₹1.5 crore by selling the question papers to candidates.Also Read: Maharashtra TET paper leak: CM Fadnavis orders SIT probe after exam postponedPawan Bansod, Deputy Commissioner of Police, said multiple police teams from Bhiwandi had tracked the three individuals and recovered the question papers from them. The trio have been booked for cheating, forgery, fabrication of documents for fraudulent purposes, and criminal conspiracy under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and relevant sections of the Maharashtra Competitive Examination (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024, and the Maharashtra Prevention of Malpractices at University, Board and Other Specified Examinations Act, 1982.The Thane police have set up a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the case. The SIT, constituted under the leadership of Joint Commissioner of Police (crime) Panjabrao Ugle, is headed by Bansod; it includes two assistant commissioners of police, nine inspector-rank officers, and 20 other personnel.