Vyapam scam whistleblower arrested

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 in Bhopal, an official said.

Hours later, the state government suspended Rai, an ophthalmologist working as a medical officer at the Hukumchand Hospital in Indore, under the MP Civil Services Rules.

He was suspended for being lax in the performance of his duties as well as for his conduct, and he would remain attached during this period to the headquarters of regional director, health services at Rewa, the government order stated.

Rai was brought to Bhopal from Delhi after he was arrested past midnight and produced in a court in Bhopal which remanded him in police custody for a day, said Bhopal crime branch assistant commissioner of police Shivpal Singh Kushwaha.

"Rai was arrested from Delhi shortly after Thursday midnight," Kushwaha said.

He is being brought to Bhopal, he added.

Last month, Laxman Singh Markam, deputy secretary in the CM's 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 alleged leak of a question paper of the 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-answer sheet had gone viral on social media, in which the name of one Laxman Singh was visible.

Sources close to Rai said he had gone to Delhi to move the Supreme Court for relief in the case registered against him.

The Madhya Pradesh High Court had on Thursday dismissed a petition filed by Rai seeking that the FIR against him be quashed.

'Vyapam' had hit the national headlines after a massive recruitment scam in the board came to light in 2011. The Supreme Court had ordered a CBI probe in the scam in 2015.