Month after Maharashtra TET paper leak, Mumbai’s mastermind still missing as CJP protests keep the heat on | Mumbai News

July 24, 2026 Headlinesnews

4 min readMumbaiJul 24, 2026 07:00 AM IST

As nationwide protests over examination irregularities continue to sweep the country, Mumbai has a flashpoint of its own. A month after the Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) question paper was leaked, the police are yet to trace the man they believe masterminded it, and the state is yet to announce a fresh exam date. Student groups have used the delay to escalate their demand for School Education Minister Dada Bhuse’s resignation.

So far, the police have arrested 12 people in the case. However, the alleged mastermind, Bijendra Gupta, a former coaching class teacher facing several paper leak cases, has managed to evade arrest and is suspected to have fled the country. Nearly six lakh teacher aspirants, meanwhile, continue to await a fresh examination date and clarity on how the state plans to restore confidence in the recruitment process.

Speaking about the investigation, a senior police officer said, “We are making efforts to track down the accused, but he has so far managed to evade the police. We should be able to arrest him soon. His modus operandi is to resurface in some other part of the country with a new identity.” The police have arrested Gupta’s wife and a few others who allegedly helped him escape.

Students gathered in Chembur and staged a protest near Dr. Ambedkar Garden over the NEET row, joining a growing movement demanding accountability, exam reforms, and action against alleged irregularities.
(Express Photo by Amit Chakravarty)

Apart from Gupta, investigators are also searching for a few people who had allegedly agreed to purchase the leaked question paper but have since gone underground. “Those arrested are still behind bars, and we will file a chargesheet in the case,” the officer said.

How the leak was uncovered
The leak surfaced two days before the exam when Thane City police got a tip-off from a Bhiwandi resident who said three men had offered him a copy of the question paper. A raid confirmed the men were carrying genuine papers, leading to the arrests of Rajiv Kumar and Aakash Kumar from Bihar and Dheeraj Singh from Haryana. The state government has since formed a 20-member Special Investigation Team.

The trail led to Mahim Patran Pvt Ltd, an Agra-based printing press, where two current employees and a former employee allegedly smuggled out papers hidden inside their shoe insoles, after being cultivated by Gupta for just Rs 8,000. The papers were printed in Agra specifically to maintain secrecy, with only the head of the State Examination Council aware of the location. The breach has forced the education department to rethink its security protocols once again.

The latest breach has once again forced the education department to rethink its examination security protocols. The state had outsourced examinations to a private agency in 2017 but returned to the earlier practice of printing papers outside Maharashtra after another paper leak in 2021. Officials said the department is now exploring fresh safeguards after this arrangement too was compromised.

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Students revive demand for Bhuse’s resignation
Meanwhile, student organisations have intensified their campaign against the state government, arguing that Maharashtra’s paper leak deserves the same scrutiny that the NEET controversy has attracted nationally.

Student leaders said the demand for Bhuse’s resignation was first raised in a memorandum submitted to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis during Mumbai’s first protest in support of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) at Azad Maidan on July 16. They said they had suspended the protest after being assured of a meeting with the Chief Minister within a week, but claim there has been no response from the government since.

“It has been exactly a week since we held the first protest in support of the CJP at Azad Maidan. We ended the protest based on the assurance that a meeting with the Chief Minister would be held within a week to discuss our demands. However, there has been no update from the government since then,” said Aamir Khan, Mumbai president of the All India Students Federation (AISF).

Mohamed Thaver is a highly specialized journalist with the Expertise and Authority required to report on complex law enforcement and legal issues. With a career dedicated to the crime beat for over a decade, his work provides readers with informed and trustworthy insights into Maharashtra’s security and justice systems.
Experience & Authority

Core Focus: Has been exclusively covering the crime beat for over a decade, building deep, specialized knowledge in the field.

Geographical Authority: Currently focuses heavily on law enforcement and policy in Maharashtra, providing authoritative coverage of the state’s security apparatus.

Key Beats:

Law Enforcement: Reports on the operations of the Maharashtra Police and the Mumbai Crime Branch.

Policy & Administration: Covers the Maharashtra Home Department, focusing on policy matters related to handling law and order and the evolution of the police force.

Judiciary: Has significant past experience covering the courts, giving him a comprehensive understanding of the entire criminal justice process from investigation to verdict.

Specialized Interest (Cyber & Forensics): Demonstrates Expertise in modern investigative techniques, with a keen focus on cyber crime and forensics, reporting on how these technologies assist complex crime investigations.

Content Focus: His reports revolve around police probes, the evolution of the force, and state policy, ensuring his content is highly relevant and detailed.

Credentials & Trustworthiness
Mohamed Thaver’s long-standing specialization in the crime beat—combined with his focus on technological aspects like cyber crime and his direct coverage of major institutions like the Mumbai Crime Branch and the Maharashtra Home Department—underscores his Trustworthiness and status as an expert source for detailed and reliable journalism on law and order.
He tweets @thaver_mohamed … Read More

Pallavi Smart is a Principal Correspondent with The Indian Express, Mumbai Bureau. Her reporting is singularly focused on the education sector, demonstrating exceptional Expertise and Authority across the entire spectrum of learning, from foundational schooling to advanced higher education. She is a highly Trustworthy source for policy, institutional developments, and systemic issues affecting students, teachers, and parents in Maharashtra.
Expertise

Senior Role: As a Principal Correspondent at The Indian Express, her designation reflects her seniority, specialized knowledge, and the editorial rigor applied to her reporting.

Core Authority & Specialization: Pallavi Smart is the definitive voice for Education news in the region. Her coverage scope is comprehensive:

Policy and Regulatory Changes: Reports on major shifts in educational policy, including the restructuring of entrance exams (e.g., MHT-CET adopting the JEE Main model), the draft regulatory framework for coaching classes, and revised teacher recruitment processes.

Higher Education Institutions (HEIs): Provides in-depth reporting on prestigious institutes like IIT Bombay and TISS (Tata Institute of Social Sciences), covering institutional initiatives, administrative debates (e.g., renaming IIT Bombay), and student welfare programs (e.g., mandatory mental health courses).

Teachers and Eligibility: Covers crucial issues affecting the teaching fraternity, such as the mandatory Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) for in-service teachers and related controversies and application numbers.

Student Welfare & Rights: Focuses on issues concerning students, including the rollout of government scholarships, the financial strain on schools due to midday meal reimbursement delays, and instances of child rights violations (e.g., the Powai studio hostage crisis).

Admissions and Vacancy: Tracks the outcome of centralized admission processes (e.g., MBBS, BPharm) and analyzes vacancy concerns, providing essential data-driven insights for parents and students.

Credentials & Trustworthiness

Dedicated Beat: Her consistent focus on the “KG to PG” education beat allows her to develop unparalleled subject matter knowledge, ensuring her reports are accurate, detailed, and contextualized.

Proactive Reporting: Her articles frequently break news on policy and institutional planning, providing the public with timely, essential information about a sector that directly impacts millions of families.

She tweets @Pallavi_Smart … Read More

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