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Cops inch closer to nabbing ex-chief of Bihar exam board
PATNA: Police on Sunday claimed to be reaching closer to arresting former chairman of Bihar School Examination board (BSEB), Lalkeshwar Prasad Singh and his wife
PATNA: Police on Sunday claimed to be reaching closer to arresting former chairman of Bihar School Examination board (BSEB), Lalkeshwar Prasad Singh and his wife Usha Sinha.
“We have got some vital clues about them. Raids are being conducted. We are positive of nabbing the two in a couple of days,” said Patna SSP Manu Maharaj, who is monitoring the probe in the intermediate toppers’ scandal by the special investigation team (SIT).
Soon after procuring the arrest warrant from the court, the CID had issued a lookout notice for the couple, apprehending they might try to escape abroad. But with the police claiming to be close to nabbing them, it remains to be seen if they will choose to surrender first.
The police, according to sources, have gathered a lot of information through interrogation of arrested persons, including VR Rai College principal Baccha Rai and board officials, the call data record (CDR), and the CCTV footage of the college. The economic offence unit has also been asked to join the investigation into the money trail and big assets of Baccha Rai, his kin and associates.
Another factor is the growing ambit of investigation, which is spreading to BRA Bihar University, which g ranted affiliation to sham institutions of Rai and a few others. “More arrests could be carried out in this connection. We have already arrested Veena Singh, Hindi teacher of VR College, and she has revealed a lot during interrogation,” said the SSP.
The board, now under a revamped team, has also withheld the mark sheets of all 1,013 students of the college following suspicion of mass rigging. The SIT has taken all the copies in its custody and is examining them. The affiliation of VR College has already been cancelled permanently.
Maharaj confirmed that most of the answer books reflected manipulation, which might have been done at various stages in connivance with the board staff. “All the evidences are pointing to the complicity of the board and its former chairman,” he added.
The Bihar board has also issued notices to four other Vaishali Colleges — Sant Kabir Mahant Ram Dayal Das College, Sanjay Singh Plus Two Higher Secondary School, Ram Videshi Singh Mahavidyalaya and Vasudeo Singh College — and sought their reply by June 22. A four-member inquiry committee, headed by board secretary Anup Kumar Sinha, will investigate the allegations against them.
