Paper ‘leak’: Telangana BJP chief arrested, charged with conspiracy

He has been slapped with charges under IPC Sections 120(B) (criminal conspiracy), 420 (cheating), 447 (criminal trespass), 505 (intent to cause fear or alarm to public), CrPC Section 151 (preventive arrest), Section 66D of the Information Technology (IT) Act (cheating using a device of communication), and sections of the Telangana Public Examinations (Prevention of Malpractice and Unfair Means) Act.

Besides Kumar, the police remand report also named B Prashanth, a former journalist; G Mashesh, a lab assistant at Kakatiya Medical College; Moutam Shiva Ganesh, a driver; Pogu Subash, a data entry operator; Dhoolam Srikanth, an 18-year-old; and P Shramik, a 20-year-old ITI first year student. Two minor boys are among the other accused in the case.

All the accused are in custody. They have been charged with conspiring to commit malpractice during the SSC exams and disturb law and order. Police said Kumar, the prime accused, had directed the others to “leak” photos of the Class 10 question papers to “defame” the government.

“This is a pre-planned and criminal conspiracy. Malpractices (have been committed) in SSC exam with an intention to create rumours and provoke breach of peace… wherein Bandi Sanjay Kumar hatched a plan with the help of two other accused to leak the ongoing SSC papers,” police said in the remand report.

On Monday, photos of the SSC Telugu question paper were reportedly circulated a few minutes before the exam began. On Tuesday, police said while the SSC Hindi exam began at 9.30 am, photos of the paper were circulated on social media by 10 am, first in Warangal district and then across the state.

“A question paper can be considered as ‘leaked’ if it was out before the start of the exam. In Tuesday’s case, the photos of the question paper started doing the rounds on social media half-an-hour after the exam started,’’ said Warangal Police Commissioner A V Ranganath.

Police said the Hindi paper ‘leak’ was traced to an exam centre at Kamalapur in Hanamkonda. “A minor boy climbed a tree and gained access to a classroom on the first floor where the exam was going on. He asked a student to show the question paper and took photos, which were then forwarded to a WhatsApp group. An employee of the Kakatiya Medical College (KMC) forwarded the photos to a former journalist, who forwarded them to Kumar,’’ Ranganath said.

Post-midnight, at about 12.30 am, police arrived at Kumar’s residence, where his supporters had gathered. He was taken into custody by about 1.30 am.

Kumar claimed it was an attempt by the Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS) government to disrupt the arrangements being made for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Telangana on April 8. “What was the need to make the arrest past midnight? They could not wait till morning? Where would he run away? There is no basis for his arrest which is illegal. The BRS party is scared of BJP and wants to disrupt the PM’s programme later this week,’’ said BJP general secretary Premender Reddy.

The FIR filed by the Karimnagar police said Kumar had provoked students to disrupt the ongoing SSC exams, following media reports of “leaks” in Vikarabad and Kamlapur. It said the police had received information that Kumar had urged his supporters to organise dharnas in front of exam centres so as to disturb the ongoing exams.

“Such acts of the MP would demoralise the students appearing for SSC exams, in which event there is every likelihood of students resorting to extreme measures… The conduct of the MP in that way will disturb the entire exam process in the state which will have serious repercussions on the future of the students,” said the FIR.

“In view of the peaceful conduct of the SSC exams, the future of students, and the possibility of a law-and-order situation arising, it is necessary to make preventive arrest of the MP,” said the FIR.

Kumar has been critical of the state government over the alleged “leak” of the Telangana State Public Service Commission (TSPSC) question paper last month. He had alleged that Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao’s relatives were involved.