SSC question paper leak: TDP ex-minister P Narayana arrested

Chittor: The founder of the Narayana Group of educational institutions and former Andhra Pradesh Telugu Desam Party minister, P. Narayana, was arrested at his residence in Kondapur, Hyderabad, on Tuesday by the Andhra Pradesh police.

A team of Andhra Pradesh police went to Mr. Narayana's residence as part of an investigation into the alleged SSC Telugu question paper leak case. The papers were reportedly leaked from Narayana School in Tirupati of Andhra Pradesh.

Speaking to NewsMeter, Chittor district superintendent of police Rishanth Reddy said, "The district police have arrested former TDP minister and chairman of the Narayana Education group, P. Narayana, in the class X question paper leak case."

It may be recalled that the Narayana school's vice-principal, Giridhar, and eight others were arrested for malpractice (leak of class X Telugu paper) in Tirupati.

When asked if the meta data of the WhatsApp photo helped cops identify the culprit, the SP said, "The entire plot will be explained in detail this evening. His (Mr. Narayana's) wife has been informed about his arrest."

Recently, during a public meeting in Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S Jagan Mohan Reddy had said that question paper was leaked in Narayana and Chaitanya schools. He had flayed former minister Narayana for indulging in such act to defame the government.

Meanwhile, TDP general secretary N. Lokesh Naidu said it was a norm under the YSRCP rule to arrest Opposition party leaders under false cases and change the narrative when public issues were raised. "This is political witch-hunting by a vindictive government. Since 2019, the YSRCP government has arrested 55 leaders (including Narayana), and not even one case (against them) has been proved," he said.

On 27 April, the Telugu question paper was allegedly leaked by a teacher of Narayana college in Tirupati. The police determined that the teacher had clicked a photo of the question paper an hour after the exam began and posted it on a social media group. In the days that followed, other question papers were also similarly leaked in various districts.

The police have booked over 45 teachers in the case. The teachers have been accused of taking photos of the question papers and leaking them on social media a few minutes after the exam started.