Bandi Sanjay arrest: Tension at police station, gun-toting Raghunandan held

WARANGAL: Tension prevailed outside the Bommala Ramaram police station in Yadadri Bhuvanagiri district on Wednesday morning ever since BJP Telangana president Bandi Sanjay was lodged there following his arrest in connection with the 10th class question paper leak scandal.

A heavy posse of policemen in riot gear had to deal with a raucous group of the BJP activists, who tried to barge into the police station after burning a heap of wooden sticks outside as a mark of protest. Scores of the BJP activists have been taken into preventive detention after a scuffle ensued between the policemen and the opposition party workers. Bandi Sanjay was arrested late on Tuesday night on suspicion of his involvement in the question paper circulation scandal after finding out that the key accused was one of his close aides. According to latest reports, Bandi Sanjay was being shifted to Warangal or Hanamkonda from Bommala Ramaram police station to avoid untoward incidents there. He is likely to be produced before a magistrate as per procedure.

Earlier in the day, the situation at the Bommala Ramaram police station deteriorated further when BJP MLA Raghunandan Rao arrived there. The Dubbaka legislator was arrested for reportedly carrying his licensed revolver. Raghunandan Rao created quite a scene when he reportedly warned the police that he was carrying his licensed revolver and it could misfire if the police forcibly evicted him from the place. Unruffled by his warning, the police whisked him away and kept him under preventive detention.

The police also did not allow inside a battery of advocates who arrived at the police station to secure a bail for Bandi Sanjay. The advocates demanded that the police disclose the grounds on which Bandi Sanjay was arrested. The police, while refusing to oblige their demand, told them point-blankly that they should take care of it in courts.

Bandi Sanjay arrest condemned

Meanwhile, C Damodar Reddy, senior advocate and former president of Telangana High Court Advocates Association, strongly condemned Bandi Sanjay’s arrest. In a press release, he termed the police action ‘illegal and high handed’.

“The arrest of Bandi Sanjay without issuing a notice under 41-A of CrPC is in utter violation of guidelines of the Supreme Court, which amounts to contempt of the court. Since Bandi Sanjay and the BJP have exposed the recent TSPSC question paper leakage and are fighting on behalf of the unemployed youth of Telangana, the BRS government led by KCR and KTR have deliberately and illegally implicated the BJP Telangana chief in a false case,” he said.

He demanded the immediate release of Bandi Sanjay.