3 printing press staff held in TET paper leak

The arrests took the total number of accused in the case to 10, while the alleged kingpin, Bijender Gupta, remains absconding

THANE: The Maharashtra TET-2026 paper leak investigation reached the printing stage on Saturday, with the Special Investigation Team (SIT) arresting three employees of an Agra-based printing press accused of leaking the examination paper before it reached candidates.

3 printing press staff held in TET paper leak

The arrests took the total number of accused in the case to 10, while the alleged kingpin, Bijender Gupta, remains absconding.

The accused were identified as Nareshkumar Puranchand Mahore, 35, Sanjaykumar Sureshchandra Chandra, 44, and Babulal Narayansingh Kushwaha, 45 and all three were brought from Delhi and produced before a Bhiwandi court on Saturday, which remanded them in police custody till July 9.

According to the SIT, Mahore allegedly leaked the question paper from the press and passed it on to former employee Sanjay Kumar Sharma and another absconding accused, Sonu Kumar.

Investigators alleged the two then supplied the paper to Bijender Gupta, who is believed to be the mastermind behind the racket.

Police said Sharma had worked as the printing press’s packaging head until two years ago, while Sonu Kumar had previously worked in the same department. Investigators suspect the accused exploited their familiarity with the printing process to obtain the confidential papers.

Police also recovered three live cartridges from one of the arrested accused.

Vijay Marathe, ACP, Bhiwandi, told HT, “The recovery of three live cartridges from one of the accused also makes the investigation significant. We need to ascertain where he procured the cartridges from and for what purpose he possessed them.”