Hyderabad: Expediting its probe into the leakage of Eamcet II medical entrance question paper, Telangana Crime Investigation Department on Saturday arrested the alleged kingpin behind the crime, Sanikyam Rajagopal Reddy. They also took another suspect, Iqbal, from New Delhi for questioning.

With this, the number of arrests in the case has risen to nine.

Reddy, 65, the brain behind the Eamcet question paper leak scandal in Telangana, is a repeat offender. Reddy who was arrested on Saturday by the Telangana CID was earlier involved in similar cases and other irregularities in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.

Criminal Investigation Department chief Satyanarayana said that Reddy had organised a coaching camp for 14 students from Hyderabad in Bengaluru on the basis of the leaked question paper.

“He collected Rs12.5 million (Dh688,446) from two brokers of Hyderabad and Vijayawada for arranging the leaked question paper,” he said.

Meanwhile, Director General of Police Anurag Sharma met Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao for the second time and briefed him about the latest status including the arrest of the kingpin.

The fresh arrests came even as Rao told top officials that Eamcet II will be declared null and void and fresh Eamcet will be held.

He reviewed the progress in the probe in a meeting with the DGP Sharma and CID chief Satyanarayana last evening.

The officials briefed him about the findings so far and assured him that all culprits will be arrested within 48 hours.

On the demand of a section of students and their parents that the Eamcet II should not be scrapped, officials told the chief minister that if any student is given admission on the basis of the tainted test, anybody can challenge it in the court creating problems for the government.

Sources said the chief minister was exploring the possibility of conducting a fresh entrance test in the third week of August without charging any fees from the students. “The government will also make free transportation arrangements to take the students to the examination centres,” an official said

Satyanarayana said those arrested included a broker — Shaikh Ramesh, alias Raheem, from Prakasham who played the role of a mediator by contacting students and collected Rs12.5 lakh from each of them. “On the whole, he collected Rs17.3 million from 14 students and Rs12 million from another broker who collected the same from the students who were coaching out of city.”

Of the remaining amount, Ramesh deposited Rs15 lakh in the bank account of another friend. “The CID recovered Rs3.75 million from him,” he added.

Preliminary investigation by the CID revealed that the two question papers were leaked to 130 students who were taken to Mumbai, Pune and Bengaluru for coaching. Another group was trained in Hyderabad.

The scam has put the TRS government in the line of fire from the opposition parties as well as the student community.

The Osmania University Joint Action Committee has demanded the dismissal of health and medical education minister Lakshma Reddy and deputy chief minister Kadiam Srihari. The JAC members organised a protest demonstration on the campus and burnt the ministers in effigy.

Leader of opposition Congress in Telangana Legislative Council Mohammed Ali Shabbir said the inefficiency of the TRS government was responsible for the cancellation of the Eamcet. “Despite getting repeatedly censured by the court, the government is not changing its style of functioning and the administration has gone out of control”, he said.

Shabbir lashed out at the Chief Minister for taking rest at his farm house instead of running the administration.