Telangana SSC paper leak case: Court to hear BJP state president Bandi Sanjay's bail plea today

Sanjay along with three other accused was sent to 14-days judicial custody by the Chief Munsif Magistrate of Hanumakonda on Wednesday evening while his bail plea was postponed to Thursday.

Hanumakonda, Karimnagar: A court in Telangana will on Thursday hear the bail plea of Karimnagar MP and BJP state president Bandi Sanjay in the SSC paper leak in which he is named as the prime accused. Sanjay, along with three other accused in the case were on Wednesday evening sent to 14-days judicial custody by the Chief Munsif Magistrate of Hanumakonda district while his bail plea was postponed to Thursday.

The Telangana BJP president was arrested by the police in the early hours of Wednesday after the question papers of standard 10 board exam started doing the rounds on the messaging app WhatsApp. Police named Sanjay as the prime accused in the case. It is alleged that on his instigation, the rest of the accused Boora Prashant, Gundeboina Mahesh, and Mautam Shivganesh secretly collected the question paper from the examination center and made it viral on social media through WhatsApp in a bid to defame the ruling BRS government.

Sanjay has been booked under Section 120 (b), 420, 447, 505 (1)(b) IPC, 4(a), 6, section 8 of TS Public Examination (Prevention of Malpractices) Act-1997, Section 66-D IT Act-2008. As it was a holiday on Wednesday, the police took Sanjay to the residence of the Chief Munsif Magistrate of Hanumakonda district at around 6.50 pm.

After examining the precedents, Sanjay was remanded for 14 days by District Chief Munsiff Magistrate Rapolu Anita. At 8.30 pm, the police took Sanjay to Karimnagar Jail. The hearing on his bail application was postponed to Thursday. Police was deployed in strength as Sanjay was produced before the judge. The charges against Sanjay are punishable by less than seven years.

While the BJP leader's lawyer has sought his immediate release, the public prosecutor argued that the issue of question paper leakage is linked to the future of many students and urged the court not to grant bail to Sanjay. All eyes are on today's hearing on Sanjay's bail plea.