Vyapam scam whistleblower Anand Rai arrested from Delhi for accusing Madhya Pradesh government official

New Delhi: Vyapam Scam whistleblower Dr Anand Rai has been arrested by Madhya Pradesh police in Delhi in the early hours of Friday in connection with a case registered by an officer posted by the OSD at CM House in Bhopal.

Soon after his arrest, Dr Anand Rai took to Twitter and through his post he asked the "workers and well-wishers" to reach Bhopal. He said that he was apprehended by Bhopal Crime Branch.

In his post, Dr Anand Rai also tagged Congress leaders Kapil Sibal and Vivek Tankha, who are also advocates.

Why Vyapam scam whistleblower Dr Anand Rai has been arrested?

On 27 March, 2022, OSD at Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister House, Laxman Singh Markam, had lodged a complaint accusing Dr Anand Rai and State Congress chief spokesperson KK Mishra of trying to drag his name in the controversy surrounding the alleged leak of a question paper of MP Teachers' Eligibility Test (MP TET) 2022 that was conducted on 25 March.

The MP TET was conducted by the Madhya Pradesh Karmachari Chayan Aayog (Staff Selection Board), which was earlier known as Vyavsayik Pareeksha Mandal (Vyapam).

Also, a purported screenshot of the leaked question-cum-answer sheet went viral on social media, in which the name of one Laxman Singh was visible.

Markam told the police that Dr Anand Rai had prepared a forged screenshot of the mobile phone

News agency PTI mentioned Bhopal Crime Branch Assistant Commissioner of Police Shivpal Singh Kushwaha saying, "Rai was arrested from Delhi shortly after Thursday midnight."

Dr Anand Rai has moved the Supreme Court against the Madhya Pradesh High Court's order that refused to quash the FIR registered against him and vacated the interim order of protection grated to him in a case related to a Facebook Post, a report by Live Law said.

The Supreme Court has agreed to hear the matter on 11 April.

Senior Advocate Vivek Tankha, who is Dr Anand Rai's counsel in the case, on Friday informed the apex court bench headed by Chief Justice of India NV Ramana that Dr Anand Rai was arrested without a notice to appear before the police.

According to a report by NDTV, Dr Anand Rai, who was posted as Medical Officer at Indore's Hukumchand Hospital, has been suspended with immediate effect by the authorities for "dereliction of duty and undue absence from work."