The main accused in the Maharashtra Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) paper leak case, Bijendra Kumar Gupta, has been arrested from Bihar by the Bhiwandi Police.
According to the police, Gupta has been brought to Pune Airport and will be taken to Bhiwandi for further legal proceedings, ANI reported.
Also Read | 3 printing press staff held in TET paper leak
Several others arrested earlier
On July 5, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the Maharashtra TET-2026 paper leak arrested three employees of an Agra-based printing press for allegedly leaking the examination paper during the printing process, taking the total number of arrests in the case to 10, HT earlier reported.
Gupta had remained absconding at the time.
The accused have been identified as Nareshkumar Puranchand Mahore (35), Sanjaykumar Sureshchandra Chandra (44), and Babulal Narayansingh Kushwaha (45). They were brought from Delhi and produced before a Bhiwandi court on Saturday, which remanded them to police custody till July 9.
According to the SIT, Mahore allegedly leaked the question paper from the printing press and passed it on to former employee Sanjay Kumar Sharma and another absconding accused, Sonu Kumar.
Leaked paper supplied to Bijendra Gupta
{{/usCountry}}According to the SIT, Mahore allegedly leaked the question paper from the printing press and passed it on to former employee Sanjay Kumar Sharma and another absconding accused, Sonu Kumar.
Leaked paper supplied to Bijendra Gupta
{{/usCountry}}Investigators alleged that the two then supplied the leaked paper to Bijendra 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 used their familiarity with the printing process to gain access to the confidential question papers.
Sumit Jadhav, the public prosecutor, told HT at the time, "We requested the remand of the accused before the court to ascertain since when they had been associated with Gupta, the amount they were paid for leaking the papers, and to investigate their exact role and involvement in the conspiracy. The court gave us their remand till July 9."
Police also recovered three live cartridges from one of the arrested accused.
Vijay Marathe, ACP, Bhiwandi said, "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."