Pradeep GuptaBhiwandi: The probe into the state Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) paper leak has revealed that the papers may have been leaked while being transported from a printing press in Uttar Pradesh to exam centres in Maharashtra, prompting Thane police to launch a multi-state hunt for the alleged mastermind Bjiender Gupta and his associates. Police have begun the process of issuing a lookout notice for Gupta and another accused who is on the run.According to investigators, the Maharashtra State Council of Examination had entrusted printing of TET papers to Mahim Patran Pvt Ltd, an Agra-based company with a corporate office in Delhi that has reportedly been printing papers for the council for nearly 25 years. After printing, the papers were despatched under security to exam centres across Maharashtra.Police said that by analysing QR codes printed on the four leaked papers recovered from the arrested accused, they found three were meant for exam centres in Washim, Jalna and Latur districts. Investigators suspect the papers were leaked somewhere between the Agra printing facility and their destinations in Maharashtra. Papers recovered from the accused were photocopies of the originals.“We are tracing every link in the movement of the papers to identify where the security breach occurred,” an officer said.The probe is currently centred on the alleged mastermind Gupta, a resident of Samastipur, Bihar. According to investigators, Gupta has been accused in several paper leak cases registered in different states over the years. Police believe his interrogation will be crucial in identifying the source of the leak.Police are also searching for Kapil Dahiya, another key suspect who was with the three arrested accused—Rajiv Shah, Akash Kumar and Dhiraj Singh—in Bhiwandi on the day cops caught them with the papers. But before the police raid, he allegedly left for Pune to negotiate the sale of the leaked papers. After allegedly learning his associates had been arrested, Dahiya is believed to have returned to Mumbai and boarded a flight to Delhi.According to police sources, undercover officers posing as prospective buyers contacted the accused and negotiated a deal for four leaked TET papers—Marathi, Hindi, social science and maths. The accused allegedly demanded Rs 1.25 crore. After the officers agreed to pay Rs 25 lakh as advance, the accused allegedly produced the papers, following which the police team caught them.Investigators said Rajiv Shah and Akash Kumar, both residents of Bihar, were allegedly in contact with Gupta and were in possession of papers, while Dhiraj Singh and Dahiya, both from Haryana, were responsible for negotiating deals with prospective buyers.The probe has also brought family members of the accused to Bhiwandi. A family friend of Akash Kumar, Nitesh Singh, who travelled from Patna, claimed Akash had left home telling his parents he was going to appear for an exam. According to the family, Akash is the only son of his parents, holds a BCom degree, and had been preparing for govt exams. His father works as supervisor at a four-wheeler showroom, while his mother has been unwell for some time.Relatives of Dhiraj Singh said he belongs to a family of farmers in Panipat, worked in a private company and after the death of his parents was supporting his younger brother and sister, both of whom were preparing for govt jobs.Dhiraj’s lawyer Satinder Redhu alleged that Gupta, known for allegedly promising govt jobs, had taken money from Dhiraj on the assurance of arranging employment. The family claimed Gupta may have falsely implicated Dhiraj.The third arrested accused, Rajiv Shah, is married and holds a BSc degree in physics, while Dahiya is the son of a retired army serviceman.“The investigation so far indicates Bijender Gupta is the main accused. Once he is arrested, we expect to establish how the papers were leaked, who assisted the accused and whether more people are involved,” DCP Pawan Bansod of Thane police said.

Mumbai: From next year, all exams conducted by the state govt will be held online, school education minister Dada Bhuse announced in the Maharashtra assembly on Monday. A committee has been formed under state chief secretary Rajesh Agarwal to create the necessary infrastructure to conduct online examinations. Bhuse added that all those found guilty in the TET paper leak case will be tried under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) after making appropriate changes in the law.Brijkishor Zanwar, public relations officer for the school education department, said “the committee has been formed to look into how all exams like the TET conducted by various departments and ministries can be conducted online.”The TET examination, scheduled for Sunday, was postponed on Saturday, after the alleged paper leak surfaced.Speaking on the paper leak, BJP MLA Sudhir Mungantiwar in the assembly asked why the question papers were printed in Agra when currency notes are printed in Nashik, demanding that all question papers be printed within Maharashtra. He alleged that outsiders were involved and no Maharashtrians were part of the leak.Bhuse said the state govt was serious about the matter and an SIT has been formed and three teams have been sent outside the state – one to Delhi, two to Bihar and one to Haryana – to probe the crime.Earlier in the day, the opposition held a demonstration outside the state assembly demanding the resignation of state education minister Dada Bhuse.Congress legislator Vijay Wadettiwar alleged in the assembly that “the main accused in the TET case (at the time of the TET paper leak in 2018), Abhishek Savrikar, was involved in a similar case but was given respectful entry into the ruling party.”Wadettiwar stated that the paper leaks have affected six lakh teachers and hurt the state’s reputation.Shiv Sena (UBT)’s Bhaskar Jadhav said, “The reputation of Maharashtra is suffering because of paper leaks. Even in the NEET exam, seven of the 11 accused were from Maharashtra.”On the setting up of the committee, Madhav Suryavanshi of the Shikshan Vikas Manch at the Yashwantrao Chavan Centre stated, “Such committees are always set up and they are only a mirage to show the govt is doing something. Similarly, in 2018, the TET paper was leaked, a committee was formed, and reports were prepared, yet nothing came of it and we are back in the same place. Fundamentally what needs to happen is that the paper-setters need to change. They have been the same for years. Also, a multi-set system of question papers should be created each year for better security.”

Education minister Dada Bhuse

Mumbai: State education minister Dada Bhuse announced in the assembly on Monday that the government would undertake a special inspection drive to enforce the teaching of Marathi in all boards in the state from Standards 1 to 10. This includes central boards and international boards like the IB and IGCSE.“If any violations are found during the inspections, strict action will be taken against the schools and officials concerned,” Bhuse said. He said that schools are expected to conduct examinations in each standard.He urged MLAs to inform the state about violations to the mandatory Marathi language rule in their constituencies.The issue was raised during a question by BJP MLA Atul Bhatkalkar, who flagged concerns over several schools allegedly not implementing the mandatory teaching of Marathi.Shiv Sena (UBT) MLA Varun Sardesai alleged that some IB schools had declared that they would not teach Marathi. “How many schools have been sent notices by the government?” he asked.Shiv Sena UBT MLA Sunil Prabhu claimed that several schools taught Marathi but did not conduct exams in the subject.Bhuse said, “The state made it mandatory to teach Marathi in schools from Standards 1 to 10 since 2020. The first violation invites a notice. After that, the penalty is a Rs 1 lakh fine.”In April 2026, the government had introduced a new rule stating that the licence of schools which violate the rule will also be revoked.Bhuse spoke about the inclusion of the history of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in school textbooks, stating that the coverage had been significantly expanded.He said that while textbooks of other education boards earlier devoted only about one-and-a-half columns to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, the content has now been expanded to 22 pages with the approval of the Centre, enabling students to know more about the Maratha king.In the council, concerns were raised over a decline in the number of Marathi-medium schools in Mumbai from 461 to 337. Legislators pointed to a growing preference among parents for English-medium schooling, citing the perceived importance of English in a globalised era as a key driver behind the shift.An MLC said that several Marathi schools face dwindling enrolment, with some being merged into English-medium institutions. As per norms, schools with fewer than 20 students are not allotted teachers, often leading to closure. Poor infrastructure and conditions in some Marathi schools across the state have further accelerated migration to private English-medium institutions.Members also flagged the impact on teachers, many of whom face displacement. An MLC stressed that even schools with small enrolment should be supported, urging the government to ensure teachers are provided and Marathi-medium schools are not shut down.(With inputs from Somit Sen)

Mumbai: The State Blood Transfusion Council (SBTC) is reviving the forgotten practice of auditing blood banks across the state, but with a twist: instead of transfusion officers, the ultimate responsibility for the quarterly audits will now lie with the institution heads, such as the deans of state-run medical colleges, the director of BMC hospitals, and the heads of private, trust-based blood banks.The final reports of these audits must be submitted to the FDA and the SBTC. The move comes after the FDA took action against the JJ Mahanagar Blood Bank over the improper disposal of blood bags, defective equipment, and inadequate sterilisation in blood component production.However, for the past decade, this self-audit, the report of which had to be submitted to the FDA, had come to a halt. “Blood transfusion officers had stopped conducting them, and the FDA had also stopped asking for them. They had an 11-page checklist document,” said a blood bank officer from a BMC hospital.Notably, FDA still conducts annual inspections of blood banks. A recent SBTC circular stated that the revived audits will require an evaluation of both technical standards and available resources within each blood banks.Among the many audit conditions, one is to ensure that processing charges for blood and blood components are transparently displayed in a visible spot within the blood bank. Inspectors are also required to audit the physical stock of blood bags. This includes checking for damaged, unused, or discarded stock, the total number of bags purchased or received against the actual blood collected, and the remaining empty bags. The audit further requires blood banks to disclose any excess collection against their average requirement over the past three years. “If bulk transfers are being made from that blood banks to other states, information regarding the rate at which it is being distributed must be provided,” the circular states.Dr Shailesh Mohite, director of major BMC hospitals, said chief medical superintendent Dr Chandrakant Pawar would be responsible for six blood banks across peripheral hospitals. Dr Pawar was unavailable for a comment.One BMC hospital blood bank is already outsourced, and the other five in peripheral hospitals are to be run on a public-private partnership (PPP) basis. SBTC director Dr Suhas Mohnalkar said, “It is still the BMC that would be responsible for their audits. We did not ask them to run them on a PPP basis. It continues to be their responsibility as long as it is within BMC premises.”He added that for private, trust-run banks not affiliated with any public institutions, their respective trust heads would be held responsible for these audits.