Vyapam whistleblower held in case filed by govt officer

New Delhi/Bhopal: Madhya Pradesh police arrested Vyapam scam whistleblower Dr Anand Rai in Delhi early on Friday in connection with a case filed by an officer posted in the state Chief Minister's Secretariat here, an official said.

Meanwhile, Supreme Court has agreed to hear on April 11 plea of the whistleblower against his arrest.

A bench of Chief Justice N V Ramana and Justices Krishna Murari and Hima Kohli took note of the submissions of senior advocate Vivek Tankha, appearing for Dr Anand Rai, that the accused had been arrested from a hotel in Delhi on Thursday night in the cases in which the other accused is out on bail on furnishing of a bond.

"We will list this on Monday," the CJI said.

Last month, Laxman Singh Markam, deputy secretary at the CM secretariat, had lodged a complaint accusing Rai and state Congress chief spokesperson K K Mishra of trying to drag his name in the controversy surrounding the alleged leak of a question paper of MP Teachers' Eligibility Test (TET)-2022 held on March 25.

The exam was conducted by the Madhya Pradesh Karmachari Chayan Aayog (Staff Selection Board), which was earlier known as Vyavsayik Pareeksha Mandal (Vyapam). A purported screenshot of the leaked question-cum-answersheet had gone viral on social media, in which the name of one Laxman Singh was visible.

"Rai was arrested from Delhi shortly after Thursday midnight," Bhopal Crime Branch Assistant Commissioner of Police Shivpal Singh Kushwaha said. He is being brought to Bhopal, he added.

The scam in Vyapam had come to light in 2011. The CBI had taken over investigation into the mega recruitment and admission scandal after an apex court order in 2015.