Former Premier Rao Is Arrested

Former Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao was arrested on forgery charges and immediately released on bail without spending any time in jail, police said. It was the first time any serving or former prime minister has been arrested on criminal charges. Rao was prime minister for five years until his scandal-plagued Congress (I) Party lost elections in May. He is accused of asking India’s consulate in New York in 1989 to authenticate false documents showing the son of a political rival had an illegal bank account in the Caribbean island of St. Kitts.