Bihar Topper scam 2016: Know about BSEB Intermediate examination scandal and fake toppers

Bihar Topper scam came into limelight on May 31, 2016 when the Bihar School Examination Board (BSEB) Arts and Humanities topper (a top scholarly position in Indian education) Ruby Rai, Science topper Saurabh Shrestha and third topper in Science stream Rahul Kumar were interviewed by television channels and they were unable to answer to basic questions.

It all began with headlines when Class 12 arts topper from Bihar Ruby Rai, student of Vishun Roy College, Kiratpur Raja Ram village in Vaishali district pronounced Political Science as ‘Prodigal Science’ and thought political science was about cooking while Science topper Saurabh Shrestha was simply unable to explain the connection between H2O and water.

Also Read:   BSEB Class 12th Intermediate Results 2017 announced by Bihar Board at biharboard.ac.in ; check your score card here

It was only after the interview video went viral, a three-member SIT was formed by the Bihar state government to look into the fraud.
Ruby Rai and other 13 rank holders were asked to appear for the test on June 3 but failed. Later, Ruby Rai was sent to judicial custody in remedial home for 14 days.

The alleged kingpin of the toppers’ scandal in Bihar Intermediate examination, Bachcha Rai was arrested after he surrendered at Bhagwanpur police station in Vaishali district on June 11th.

An FIR was registered against four toppers of the Bihar school board and three others on a complaint filed by the state education department for alleged irregularities in the exams.

Their arrest by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) was made following a tip off about their presence in the temple city of neighbouring Uttar Pradesh.

Also Read: BSEB Class 12th Results 2017 announced: Pass percentage dips to dismal 35, whopping 64.07 per cent students fail

Lalkeshwar Singh and his wife Usha Sinha, a co-accused in the toppers scandal, had gone underground after police had acquired an arrest warrant from a Patna court in the irregularities in the Bihar +2 examination.

The report of Forensic Science Laboratory has revealed that Bihar state board Class XII Arts topper Ruby Rai had not written her answer sheets. Her answer sheet was written by experts.

On 9 August 2016, Vikas Kumar, who was a clerk-cum-storekeeper of the Bihar Vidyalaya Pariksha Samiti and kingpin of the racket in connection with the Bihar intermediate exam scam was arrested by a joint team of the West Bengal CID and Bihar police.

In September 2016, Bihar government decided to link exams to Aadhaar numbers to avoid duplication and facilitate easy access to documents. 

In October 2016, investigations revealed that Ruby Rai wrote names of movies in one answer sheet and the name of Tulsidas more than a hundred times in another and poetry in some others, which were then replaced. She wrote only 1 (home science) of 6 papers.

Patna Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Manu Maharaj said that according to reports of forensic science laboratory, the copy was not written by the alleged topper, but by the experts.

He also revealed that the marks imprinted on the answer sheet were changed innumerable times. Ruby had reportedly ‘topped’ this year’s Class 12 examination conducted by the Bihar School Examination Board (BSEB) in the humanities stream.

Diwakar Prasad, an accused in the Rs 8 crore Bihar School Examination Board (BSEB) tender scam, was found dead under mysterious circumstances. The deceased’s relative alleged that he was murdered by police.

The Supreme Court refused to grant any relief to Bachcha Rai, the accused in the Bihar School Examination Board (BSEB) toppers scam. In June 2016 Rai surrendered before police, following which he was arrested.

The high court, in its February 14 order, had asked the lower court where the case was being adjudicated to frame charges within a month and grant bail to Rai.

On March 6, the apex court had issued notice to the accused on Bihar government's plea and said that Rai shall not be released on bail.