Telangana BJP chief gets bail in SSC question paper leak case

A court granted bail to Telangana Bharatiya Janata Party president and MP Bandi Sanjay Kumar who was arrested over the alleged leak of secondary school exam papers.

The principal judicial magistrate court in Hanamkonda district granted bail to Kumar on furnishing a personal bond of Rs 20,000 with two sureties.

The Telangana BJP chief was directed not to leave the country without the court's permission.

It also asked him not to tamper with the evidence, and cooperate with the investigation.

Sanjay Kumar, a Lok Sabha MP from Karimnagar constituency, was named as prime accused in the case relating to the alleged circulation of Class 10 (SSC) Hindi examination question paper in groups of an instant messaging app.

He was arrested by the Warangal Police on Wednesday on charges of criminal conspiracy and malpractices, among others.

Sanjay Kumar and three others arrested in the case were on Wednesday remanded in judicial custody till April 19 by a local court in Hanamkonda and they were lodged in a jail in Karimnagar.

Sanjay Kumar had filed a bail application which the court accepted tonight after hearing the arguments and counter-arguments.

The photo of the SSC Hindi question paper was posted in a group of the app by one of the accused on April 4 and subsequently shared in other groups by the second accused (a former journalist), who had also sent it to Sanjay Kumar and several others, police had said.

A minor boy, who had allegedly taken photos of the paper from the exam centre in Hanamkonda after being told to do so by two accused, was also apprehended.

The Warangal police opposed the bail plea on the grounds that they may try to tamper with the evidence and since the examination process was still underway it will disturb the process of the conduct of the exams.

The police had also filed a petition in the court on Thursday and sought three days custody of Sanjay Kumar and three other accused for further investigation in the case.

However, the court posted the custody petition to Monday.