Etala Rajender appears before police in SSC question paper leak case

HYDERABAD: Former Minister and BJP MLA Eatala Rajender on Monday appeared before the police in connection with a notice issued to him in the alleged SSC Hindi question paper leak case.

He appeared before the investigating officers at the office of Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) (Central) in Hanamkonda. The police asked Rajender to furnish details of his mobile phone and other evidence required in the case. Rajender was asked to appear before the police on April 7 at 11 am at DCP office.

However, he made a request to investigators saying that he would appear before them on Monday. His personal assistants – Raju and Narender -- also appeared before the police after getting notices from them.

A few days ago, the police issued notice to Rajender under Section 91 of Criminal Procedure Code (CrPc) seeking information as part of the investigation. In the notice, the police said the accused hatched a conspiracy to indulge in malpractices in SSC public examination with an intention to create rumours and provoke breach of peace of the ongoing public examination in the State.

As per plan, a minor boy went to the Zilla Parishad Boys High School in Kamalapur and trespassed into room No. 3 on the first floor in the centre (code -12050) and took a photograph of the Hindi question paper at 9.45 am. Later, the minor sent the paper to one Moutam Shiva Ganesh, who immediately forwarded it to the SSC WhatsApp group.

Around 11.11 am, breaking news was aired in a new channel about the question paper leak case. The paper was forwarded to Rajender at 10.41 am and his two personal assistants, and Telangana BJP president and MP Bandi Sanjay Kumar at 11.24 am.

A former journalist Boora Prashanth, who was first arrested in the case, spoke to 149 members in the SSC WhatsApp group. In the crime number 60/2023, the police booked a case under Sections 120(B) (Conspiracy), 420 (Cheating), 447 (Punish for criminal trespass) and other provisions of Indian Penal Code (IPC) along with provisions of Section 4 (a), 6 read with 8 of TS Public examination (Prevention of malpractices) Act-1997 and Section 66D of Information Technology (IT) Act-2008.

The case was booked based on a complaint lodged by school headmaster Maturi Shiva Prasad, who is holding full additional charge (FAC).

The police named 10 persons including Sanjay and a minor boy as an accused in the case. Of them, the police arrested Sanjay, Prashanth, Shiva Ganesh and G Mahesh, while five other persons are still at large. A local court in Hanamkonda granted conditional bail to Sanjay.

Rajender handed over his mobile phone to enable investigators to secure information required by them. Speaking to mediapersons after coming out of the DCP’s office, he alleged that the Hindi question paper leak case was registered against the BJP leaders to divert the attention from Telangana State Public Service Commission (TSPSC) question paper leak case and Delhi liquor scam. He clarified that he did not get any message from the persons named by the police and added that he did not open messages received from other numbers as well. Stating that the BJP would always strive for the development of students’ bright future, Rajender said one should not forget that he was in the party of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who directly interacted with students regularly. He said the case booked against the BJP leaders was illegal. “The exam started at 9 am and how can it be called a paper leak when it was in public domain at 11am?” he asked, alleging that Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao, who is sitting in Pragathi Bhavan, is foisting false cases against the BJP leaders.