Hyderabad, Apr 5 (IANS): Telangana police detained BJP MLAs Raghunandan Rao and Eatala Rajender and other leaders on Wednesday while the BJP has called for state-wide protests against the arrest of party's state unit president Bandi Sanjay Kumar.
Raghunandan Rao was detained near Bommala Ramaram police station in Yadadri Bhuvanagiri district where he was lodged after his midnight arrest in Karimnagar.
A tense situation prevailed around the police station as scores of BJP workers reached there to stage a protest against the arrest of Sanjay.
Additional police forces were rushed to the area to control the situation. Police barricades were erected about 2 km from the police station to stop the protesters.
Raghunandan Rao and his supporters were also stopped by the police. The MLA, who wanted to meet police officers, was detained and whisked away in a vehicle. The protesters, including women, raised slogans against the police and tried to stop the vehicle.
Scuffle broke out when protesters tried to break the police cordon and advance towards the police station. Several protesters were arrested.
Raghunandan alleged that police violated the Supreme Court guidelines in Sanjay's arrest. He said the BRS government was creating "Bihar-like anarchy" in Telangana.
Another BJP MLA Eatala Rajender was detained by the police at Shameerpet on the outskirts of Hyderabad. The MLA was taken into preventive custody.
Rajender questioned the police action for detaining him when he was proceeding to BJP office.
Later, Bandi Sanjay was shifted from the police station in a vehicle. The BJP workers tried to stop the police vehicle carrying him. They were detained by police.
The BJP leader is likely to be produced in a court in Nalgonda district. He was arrested from in-laws' house in Karimnagar around 12.45 a.m. He is believed to have been arrested in connection with 10th class exam paper leak on Tuesday.
According to police, a person who leaked the Hindi question paper in Warangal soon after the exam began, sent it to Bandi Sanjay on WhatsApp. Accused Prashanth is said to be a BJP worker.
Meanwhile, BJP staged protests in different parts of the state to condemn Sanjay's arrest. The protesters raised slogans against the BRS government.
Union Tourism and Culture Minister G. Kishan Reddy has condemned Sanjay's arrest. He telephoned Director General of Police Anjani Kumar to know the case in which he was arrested. The police chief said details of the case would soon be made public.