Bihar merit list scam: Arts topper Ruby Rai arrested

Patna: Bihar’s Class 12 “topper” in Arts Ruby Rai, who had said political science is all about cooking, was arrested on Saturday when she appeared for a re-test at the Bihar School Examination Board (BSEB) office, police said. “Special Investigation Team (SIT) of Bihar police probing into the Bihar toppers scam has arrested Ruby Rai when she finally appeared for a re-test at BSEB office,” a police official said. [caption id=“attachment_2855904” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Ruby Rai and Saurabh Shreshtha. CNN-News18[/caption] Rai will be produced in the local court on Sunday, the official added. Before Saturday, Rai failed to appear in the re-test twice on 3 June and 17 June. She reportedly informed the board that she is not well and unable to appear for the re-test. The results of Rai and other toppers were put on hold after the scam came to light in May. A total of 14 students were called for a re-test by the BSEB after a news channel broadcast a sting in which Rai said, “Prodikal (read political) science is about cooking”, and Saurabh Shreshtha, a Science topper, said: “Most reactive element in the periodic table is aluminium”. Rai had scored 444 out of 500 marks in the Arts stream and Saurabh Shreshtha 485 out of 500 in Science. Both studied in VR College in Vaishali district. According to police officials, the Patna civil court has issued a non-bailable warrant of arrest against four toppers including Rai. The VR college director-cum-principal Bachcha Rai was arrested early this month and was lodged in Beur jail in Patna. The former board chairman Lalkeshwar Prasad and his wife, and former Janata Dal United (JDU) MLA Usha Sinha were also arrested in connection with the scam. “Police have taken them on remand for interrogation,” officials said. So far, nearly 20 people have been arrested by the SIT.