Bihar marks scam: exam board chief, wife arrested

The former chairman of the Bihar School Examination Board (BSEB), Lalkshwar Singh, and his wife Usha Sinha, a former Janata Dal (United) MLA from Hilsa, were arrested on Monday from Varanasi. Both were absconding in the Bihar Intermediate results scam involving mass irregularities in the Board.

Earlier, a First Information Report FIR was lodged and arrest warrant issued by a local court against both in connection with the case. Since then both had gone underground.

''Lalkeshwar Singh and his wife Usha Sinha have been arrested from Varanasi,'' Manu Maharaj, Senior Superintendent of Police of Patna, confirmed. Both will be brought to Patna soon, he said.

''Their arrest by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) was made following a tip-off about their presence in the temple city,'' said the SSP, who heads the SIT.

The SIT had also got a court order to attach Lalkeswar Singh's property, which was to be executed on Monday.

Usha Sinha, who was removed recently as Principal of Ganga Devi Women's college in Patna, too was made a co-accused in the case for her ''active role'' in the scam.

The JD(U) had recently declared that Usha Sinha's membership of the party will not be renewed and she would automatically be ''sacked'' from the party.

The SIT team had arrested the main accused in the case, Amit Kumar alias Bachcha Rai, principal and director of the dubious V N Rai College of Vaishali, from where most of the intermediate topper students had come out.

Both the humanities and science toppers, Ruby Rai and Saurabh Shresth, were earlier caught on camera unable to answer even basic questions on their subject, embarrassing the government and exposing the scam.

The investigating team said Bachcha Rai had confessed that he was in regular touch with Lalkeshwar Singh and his wife Usha Sinha for managing the results of the students.

Police recently seized Rs20 lakh in cash as well as gold and diamond ornaments, stuffed in stacked fodder heaps at Bachcha Rai's residence, and a country-made pistol from his office.