Bihar board chief on run, four others held in exam scam

Fissures have appeared in the grand ruling alliance in Bihar with chief minister Nitish Kumar taking Education Minister Ashok Chowdhary to task for creating a mess around the investigation into state secondary education examination scam. Chowdhary belongs to the Congress.

A livid Bihar Chief Minister is reported to have advised the Bihar School Education Board chairman Lalkeshwar Prasad Singh to resign. Sensing trouble over ongoing investigation into Class 12 merit list muddle, Singh resigned on Wednesday, officials said. Singh is husband of JD(U) leader and former MLA Usha Sinha who is from Nitish Kumar’s home district.

Chowdhary earlier had expressed his helplessness before mediapersons in taking action against BSEB officials saying “his hands were tied in the matter.” This statement irked the CM who ordered a crackdown in the matter, following which four persons were arrested.

The Centre Superintendent of GA High School, Hajipur, which was the examination centre of the infamous Vishun Rai College has been arrested. The Principal of Rajendra Nagar High School, Patna, where copies of toppers were evaluated was also arrested. A school teacher and a clerk were also taken in police custody. Meanwhile, a massive manhunt was on to nab Principal of Vishun Rai College from where toppers had appeared in the examination.

Cops have also swooped down on possible hideouts of toppers Rubi Rai and Saurabh Shrestha. Police have also served notices to their parents. They have been requested to bring their children to Patna and cooperate in  ongoing investigations. The SIT has seized answer sheets of the toppers. Computer hard disc and pen drives have also been sent to a forensic laboratory for intensive investigation. The hard disc and pen drives besides other relevant papers related to toppers’ examination was recovered from BSEB chairman’s office on Tuesday.

According to reports, a special investigation team of the Bihar Police probing the case after an FIR (first information report) was lodged, is likely to detain former chairman Singh for interrogation. “Some evidences suggest Singh’s involvement in the merit list muddle that defamed the state like never before,” an SIT official was quoted by an agency report.

As mentioned earlier, under pressure to quit, Singh has resigned from the chairman’s position. Raids were being conducted to detain Singh as he remained untraceable through the day. “Neither he was available at his official bungalow nor in his official chamber,”an official said.