TET paper-leak scam: What it’s all about, how Maharashtra Police busted it? | Explained
The Maharashtra Police Special Investigation Team (SIT) is probing an inter-State paper-leak racket linked to accused persons suspected of involvement in similar paper-leak cases in
The Maharashtra Police Special Investigation Team (SIT) is probing an inter-State paper-leak racket linked to accused persons suspected of involvement in similar paper-leak cases in other States, in connection with the State Teacher Eligibility Test (TET), which was postponed after the alleged leak came to light. What is Maharashtra TET? The Maharashtra Teacher Eligibility Test is an examination that assesses candidates’ proficiency in subjects such as mathematics, science and languages for teaching roles. It is mandatory under the Right to Education Act for the recruitment of primary school teachers from Classes I to VIII. As per guidelines issued by the Council for Teacher Education, each State conducts its own TET. In Maharashtra, the examination is conducted by the Maharashtra State Council of Examination, headquartered in Pune. Why was the examination postponed, and how many applicants were affected? The examination was scheduled to be held on June 28. However, on the eve of the examination, the Maharashtra State Council of Examination postponed it after a police probe found that the papers had allegedly been leaked. The last-minute cancellation has affected more than six lakh candidates. The exam was scheduled to be conducted in 1,028 centres across 37 cities in Maharashtra. When is the next exam, and will there be a fresh fee? The new date of the examination has not yet been announced. Officials have indicated that it will be announced soon. The State government has said the applicants may not need to re-register or pay any additional fees for appearing for the examination. What is the paper-leak scam? Acting on a tip-off, the Thane Police last week laid a trap and arrested three accused who were allegedly trying to sell examination papers for ₹1.5 crore. Police had received information that a group of men was attempting to sell papers across Mumbai, Thane, Pune, Solapur, Nagpur, and Indore.
This information is still being verified as part of the ongoing investigation. According to police, two separate groups of men reached Bhiwandi over the last weekend of June to allegedly sell four Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) papers, apparently unaware of each other but believed to be operating under the same kingpin. They allegedly planned to target coaching classes and sell the papers for ₹1.5 crore, with individual candidates being charged around ₹1.5 lakh each. During the investigation, police used a decoy to pose as a buyer. The accused allegedly showed the question paper during a video call and then proceeded to negotiate its sale. After verifying the authenticity of the seized material, police arrested three individuals: Rajeev Shriprayag Shaw (Bihar), Akash Kumar Swaraj Kumar (Bihar), Dheeraj Balraj Singh (Haryana). One of Dheeraj’s associates, Kapil Dahiya (Haryana), reportedly managed to escape and remains absconding. How many people have been booked so far? A First Information Report (FIR) has been registered by the Thane Police against five persons so far. Three of them have been arrested. A Look Out Circular (LOC) has been issued against the two absconding accused. One of the absconding accused is suspected to be the mastermind of the alleged paper-leak scam and is also suspected to be involved in similar scams in other States. All the accused hail from Bihar and Haryana.Police officers probing the case initially found it difficult to believe that people from Delhi, Bihar, and Haryana were selling examination papers for a Maharashtra-based examination. So far, the investigation has pointed to one Bijendar Kumar Baleshwar Kumar Sah, a resident of Patna, Bihar, as the alleged kingpin of the scam. He is believed to have been operating two different teams of men who travelled to Thane to sell the papers. The two teams were unaware of each other and were in direct communication with Bijendar, who allegedly booked their flights and local transport and remained in constant touch with them through audio and video calls.
The BriefWire