Midnight arrest of Telangana BJP chief follows growing pressure on KCR govt over paper leaks

In the meantime, on two consecutive days this week, photos of the SSC exam question papers started circulating online, within minutes of the start of the exams.

These alleged fresh “leaks’’ have given the opposition Congress and BJP new ammunition to train their guns on the BRS and target Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao and his family. Even the Left, which has announced its support to the BRS against the BJP, has joined calls for a probe.

Now the BRS appears to have hit back with the arrest of BJP Telangana chief Bandi Sanjay Kumar in the wee hours of Wednesday, accusing him of “orchestrating” the SSC question paper leak on Tuesday. Kumar has been at the forefront of attacks on the BRS government over the leaks, accusing relatives of the CM’s family of being involved.

Earlier, the SIT had summoned Kumar to appear before it on March 24 and have his statement recorded and furnish proof regarding his allegations. The BJP chief had hit back at the time saying that instead of summoning him to produce proof, the SIT should investigate the matter and find the truth. “I had highlighted that a few people from one place had scored exceptionally well in the TSPSC exam, and others were accusing them of purchasing the question paper. Instead of pursuing this, the SIT is asking me to produce evidence,’’ Kumar had said.

On Monday, after the alleged leak of the SSC Telugu question paper, Kumar demanded the resignation of state Education Minister Sabitha Indra Reddy. “After the TSPSC fiasco, now the Telangana government has miserably failed to conduct even Class X examinations in a fool-proof manner without any scope for leakage of question papers. It is shameful on the part of the KCR government to continue, despite the fact that it cannot conduct even Class X examinations properly,” he said.

According to Kumar, the state government was deliberately leaking question papers as it wanted to benefit some corporate and private schools. “It has miserably failed to control the use of technology in question paper leaks,” he said.

Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) chief A Revanth Reddy has also claimed that people close to BRS leaders are involved in the TSPSC question paper leaks. Reddy specifically alleged that a person working in the office of the CM’s son, IT Minister K T Rama Rao, was associated with one of the accused. The SIT also summoned Reddy for a statement and to produce proof, but Reddy only submitted newspaper clippings.

On Tuesday, the CPI and CPI(M) demanded a probe by a sitting High Court judge into the TSPSC paper leak. CPI state secretary K Sambasiva Rao said they don’t have faith in the SIT, which they accused of working in favour of the state government. CPI(M) state secretary T Veerabhadram also said a probe by a sitting HC judge was necessary.