Telangana BJP President and MP Bandi Sanjay Kumar was detained by the police in the small hours of Wednesday in connection with the alleged leak of the Secondary School Certificate Hindi examination question paper.

Commissioner of Police of Warangal A V Ranganath has confirmed that the main culprit behind the Class 10 Hindi examination paper leak is linked to Sanjay Kumar. Police had earlier apprehended three persons, including Booram Prashanth, who is a close aide of the BJP State president Bandi Sanjay, in connection with the incident.

Claiming that the whole paper leak fiasco was designed as a conspiracy to defame the BRS government, Ranganath said that this isn't a case of question paper leak, “if it was out before the start of the exam”.

The Class 10 Hindi exam began at 9:30 am on Tuesday and by 10 am, photos of the paper were circulating in several WhatsApp groups across the state. “In this case, the photos of the question paper started doing the rounds on social media half an hour after the exam started,” Ranganath said according to media reports.

Sanjay Kumar, a Lok Sabha MP from the Karimnagar constituency, was picked up by a team of police late on Tuesday night from his residence despite the ruckus between police officials and protesting BJP workers, as reported by PTI.

The MP's supporters tried to prevent the police from arresting Kumar, leading to some tense moments. Sanjay Kumar took to Twitter to share videos of the ruckus that unfolded at his residence late at night.

Referring to his detention, Sanjay Kumar said, “Fear is real in BRS. First, they stop me from conducting press meet & now arrest me late at night. My only mistake is to question the BRS govt on its wrongdoings. Do not stop questioning BRS even if I am jailed.”

Condemning the police action, Union Minister G Kishan Reddy termed as 'undemocratic' the detention of Kumar without citing any reason.

"What was the need for this action against a Member of Parliament at midnight? What are the crime and case? They are not telling us anything. He is being taken to Bhongir. Why is he being taken there?" Mr Reddy said according to ndtv.com.

"The reason behind this action is that we are raising our voice against the KCR government over the question paper leak case. This is all against the 'Democracy'," he alleged.

Mrs Aparna, the wife of Sanjay Kumar, recounted the whole ordeal as a brazen and punitive action by the state machinery. “Police dragged Sanjay, denied tablets & water, and injured him at the mouth. He came to Karimnagar to participate in the Chinna karma of my mother who passed away 10 days ago. Is it fair to do this to a grieving family?”, she said.

The state BJP chief has hit out at the BRS government and labelled his detention as an attempt to derail arrangements being set up ahead of PM Modi's visit to inaugurate the Vande Bharat Express and a host of other projects.

Sanjay Kumar has been shifted to Bommalaramaram police station under Rachakonda Police Commissionerate limits here.

A large number of BJP workers gathered there to protest Kumar’s detention and also raised slogans against Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao.

They demanded Sanjay Kumar be immediately released.

Meanwhile, BJP leader and party's I-T department head Amit Malviya in a tweet said: "In a midnight operation, Telangana police has arrested BJP state President Bandi Sanjay Kumar on fabricated charges of being involved in secondary school paper leak. This won’t end well for KCR".

The series of unfolding events follow the probe that is being carried out by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) of Telangana police into the alleged leak of a question paper of Telengana State Public Service Commission.

Referring to the reported comments of Kumar that there are some incredible truths on the paper leak issue, the SIT officials sought his appearance with any documents in his possession in the interest of the investigation. He had alleged that relatives of Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao were behind the leak.

The Telangana State Public Service Commission (TSPSC) on March 15 cancelled the Assistant Engineers (AE) exam held on March 5, following allegations that the question paper had been leaked.

Amid protests by opposition parties and student groups over the alleged question paper leak, the Commission had cancelled the Group-I preliminary exam and two other tests as well.