Bihar merit list scam: Key accused Bachcha Rai arrested, ex-Bihar board chief still absconding

Patna: Amit Kumar alias Bachcha Rai, the mastermind of the Class 12 Board merit list scam in Bihar, was arrested on Saturday after he surrendered before the police. [caption id=“attachment_2829166” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Bihar’s “toppers” Rubi Rai and Saurabh Sreshtha . News18[/caption] Rai is the director-cum-principal of the VR College in Vaishali district which is being investigated in the case. According to police officials, Rai, who has been absconding, surrendered near his college in Vaishali and the police arrested him. Police will produce him in the local court by evening. However, according to a India Today report, Rai has said he is innocent and denied having links with former Chairman of Bihar School Examination Board Lalkeshwar Prasad Singh. Rai claimed that he is being framed in the case. But as Times Now reported, the police has claimed there is strong evidence to suggest Rai has a network with top Bihar Board officials and this racket had been functioning for quite some time. In the last 48 hours police had raided several places but failed to track Rai. Earlier on Friday, five accused arrested in the case were remanded to 14 days judicial custody by a local court in Patna. Those arrested earlier are Viseshwar Prasad Yadav, the principal-cum-centre superintendent of Government Boys High School Rajendra Nagar, Patna; Sanjiv Kumar Suman, a mathematics teacher of the same school; Shambhu Nath Das, section officer and Ranjit Kumar Mishra, assistant at the confidential wing of the Inter Council; and Shail Kumari, principal-cum-centre superintendent of G.A. Inter College, Hajipur. Meanwhile, another key accused, former Chairman of Bihar School Examination Board Lalkeshwar Prasad Singh is still absconding, police said. Singh is a key accused in the case and has gone underground after resigning from the Board. -With agency inputs