TIRUPATI: Former TDP minister P
Narayana, who was arrested by Chittoor police in connection with the SSC exams malpractice case on Tuesday, was granted bail by the fourth additional magistrate court in Chittoor on Wednesday.
The former minister was taken into custody from Hyderabad and shifted to Chittoor by road. He was then taken to the government general hospital in Chittoor where he underwent medical examination, following which he was produced before local magistrate Sulochana Rani at around 2 am on Wednesday.
Narayana was booked under sections 408, 409, 120B and 207 of the IPC, which cater to malpractice in public examinations.
After the ex-minister's counsel apprised the judge that Narayana had quit all his official positions in Narayana group of educational institutions in 2014 itself and had nothing to do with the SSC question paper leak case, he was granted bail after furnishing two sureties of 1 lakh each.
Meanwhile, Chittoor police have decided to move a petition in the high court seeking cancellation of Narayana's bail. District SP Y Rishanth Reddy said an in-depth and impartial investigation was underway to get to the bottom of the SSC examinations malpractice case.
"It emerged during the course of the investigation that certain colleges like Narayana deliberately resort to various kinds of malpractices with an intention to ensure their students pass out with higher marks, which helps them secure more and more admissions to their schools and colleges year on year," he said.
He further said that prime accused Giridhar Reddy, who is the vice-principal of Narayana school in Tirupati, confessed to police about the former minister's involvement. "Based on additional evidence and confession statements from other accused, we took Narayana into custody. Now that he has been granted bail, we will move the high court to get back his custody, which is very crucial to further progress of the investigation," Rishanth Reddy added. Meanwhile, the dean of Narayana group Gangadhar Rao, who happens to be accused number 8 in the case, was remanded in judicial custody by the Chittoor court.
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