Telangana BJP Chief Files Complaint Over Missing Mobile Phone During Detention

Bandi Sanjay Kumar stated that while he was being taken to Bommalaramaram Police Station during the time of his arrest, he realised that he had lost his mobile phone.

Telangana BJP president Bandi Sanjay Kumar, who is the prime accused in the SSC paper leak case, has lodged a complaint with Karimnagar Police over his phone going missing during his detention and requested the authorities to trace it.

Karimnagar MP Sanjay Kumar was arrested on April 5 by the Warangal Police for allegedly leaking Class 10 (SSC) Hindi exam question paper on a messaging platform and was initially placed under preventive arrest. He was remanded in judicial custody but was later granted bail by a court on April 6.

Sanjay Kumar claimed in his police complaint that Karimnagar police had detained him during the intervening night of April 4 and April 5 and had driven him in a police van to Bommalaramaram Police Station. 

Sanjay said during travel, he realised that he had lost his mobile phone and claimed to have brought this to the notice of police officials who were with him in the van. After he was remanded, Sanjay Kumar informed his advocates about the missing mobile phone.

"I remember that I had the mobile (phone) with me when I was taken into custody. My contact numbers and party-related information are stored in it," Sanjay Kumar said in the complaint and requested the police to initiate a probe to locate his mobile phone.

Warangal Police Commissioner AV Ranganath said after the arrest of the BJP state chief "there was a WhatsApp conversation between Sanjay and the second accused, Prashanth".

"There were also WhatsApp calls between them. When we asked Sanjay, he said his phone was not with him. If we examine his phone, some more information will come out," Ranganath further said.

According to police, Bandi Sanjay hatched a plan with the help of other accused Prashanth and Moutam Shiva Ganesh to leak the ongoing SSC exam papers by circulating them on Whatsapp.

The accused have been booked under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 120B (criminal conspiracy), 420 (cheating), and 505 (circulating any report or statement with an intent to cause alarm to the public).

Police have also invoked Section 4(A), Section 6 of the TS Public Examinations (Prevention of Malpractices) Act, and Section 66(D) of the Information Technology Act.