Three people were arrested on Saturday in connection with the alleged leak of the Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) in Maharashtra, just hours after the exam was postponed by the Maharashtra State Council of Examination (MSCE).
The three were arrested after the police obtained a crucial tip-off that the accused had been planning to sell four sets of the leaked June 28 question papers at Rs 1.5 crore.
Notably, the TET exam was to be conducted on June 21, but was previously postponed to June 28 due to the NEET paper leak row, after which students' May 3 attempt of the NEET-UG exam was cancelled.
The tip-off obtained by DCP (Zone 2), Pawan Bansod, spurred the police into action—a team was formed, who laid a trap for the accused at the Kongaon area of Maharashtra's Bhiwandi.
However, when the accused were searched, it was found that the papers they had were not new ones prepared from leakes questions, but were four sets of original question papers for the June 28 exam.
After senior officials of the education department confirmed that the four sets were among the actual question papers for the exam tomorrow, the three were detained, and their mobile phones and cards seized.
"They had travelled here from Delhi. One of the accused is from Haryana, while the other two are from Bihar," said Thane Additional Commissioner Ashok Dudhe in a press conference earlier today.
An initial probe into the motives of the accused has found that they planned to sell the four sets of question papers for Rs 1.5 crore to a buyer, who would then distribute it to various others.
While it is not yet known whether they were linked to a larger gang, police custody remand has been sought for the accused.
A Special Investigation Team (SIT), led by DCP Pawan Bansod, has been constitued, and includes two ACPs, nine officers, and approximately 20 other personnel—in a multi-state probe.
The incident has also sparked anger among lakhs of teaching aspirants, who had already been affected by the NEET paper leak due to the date change.
Meanwhile, the MSCE has also launched a parallel probe into the matter.
It has also urged candidates to rely only on official updates published on its website and avoid unverified information circulating on social media. A fresh examination date will be announced once the investigation is completed and the situation is fully assessed.
