Over six lakh teaching aspirants woke up on the morning of 28 June 2026 to news that the Maharashtra Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) — an exam they may have spent months preparing for — had been called off hours before it was to begin. The reason: a question paper leak allegedly orchestrated by an interstate criminal syndicate, with suspected links stretching from Bihar to Haryana, Delhi, and Uttar Pradesh.
How the Leak Came to Light
Police in Bhiwandi, Thane district, arrested three individuals on 27 June — Dheeraj Kumar, Akash Kumar, and Rajeev — found in possession of what investigators described as multiple sets of TET 2026 question papers. Three of the four sets recovered were subsequently confirmed as genuine. The papers were reportedly being negotiated for approximately ₹1.5 crore. Within hours, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis ordered an immediate postponement of the exam and constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) headed by Thane Joint Commissioner of Police Panjabrao Ugale.
An Interstate Syndicate, Not a Local Crime
The probe has rapidly expanded far beyond Thane. The SIT has deployed five teams operating simultaneously across Bihar, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, and Odisha. The alleged mastermind is Bijendra Kumar Gupta, a Samastipur, Bihar-based suspect who remains absconding. His wife, Suman Kumari, was arrested from Patna on 30 June — the first woman arrested in the case. A second key accused, Kapil Shrikrishna Dahiya of Haryana, reportedly travelled to Pune to negotiate the sale of the leaked papers before going underground using a false identity.
Investigators are examining whether the leak occurred at the printing stage — papers were printed at Mahim Patram Pvt Ltd in Agra, Uttar Pradesh — or during transportation to treasury centres in Latur, Washim, and Jalna. The SIT is also probing a possible connection to the 2024 NEET paper leak network, specifically examining links to accused Sanjeev Mukhiya. If confirmed, this would suggest an organised, repeat-offender network targeting India’s most consequential examinations.
What This Means for Maharashtra’s Teachers
The TET is not an optional credential. Under the Right to Education Act, it is mandatory for anyone seeking a government school teaching post in Maharashtra. More than six lakh candidates — a mix of fresh graduates and long-time aspirants who have been cycling through repeated attempts — were affected by the postponement. Many had travelled to exam centres across the state, often from remote districts, before the cancellation was announced.
The rescheduled exam date has not yet been announced, leaving candidates in uncertainty about their employment timelines. For those who had left jobs or relocated to prepare, the delay carries a real economic cost. It also raises uncomfortable questions about the state government’s examination infrastructure: this is not the first time Maharashtra’s major competitive exams have been compromised. RTMNU’s recent examination failures, the MPSC controversies of prior years, and now TET 2026 point to systemic weaknesses in how sensitive papers are printed, stored, and transported across a large, decentralised network.
What to Watch Next
The SIT’s ability to trace and arrest Bijendra Kumar Gupta will be the key test of this investigation. If the NEET link is confirmed, Maharashtra would need to coordinate with the CBI, which is probing that case federally. On the policy side, pressure is likely to mount on the State Examinations Board to move to computer-based testing for TET — a format far harder to compromise through physical paper theft — as several other states have already done. CM Fadnavis has signalled interest in technology-driven reform of the examination system; this incident may accelerate that push.
Sources: ANI News, Free Press Journal, Tribune India
This report was compiled and written with AI assistance from publicly reported sources, and reviewed for accuracy.