Lagging indicator

The Madhya Pradesh police has been tireless in showcasing the efforts of a special task force to catch Sudhir Sharma, wanted in a state entrance exam scandal, in the local and national media. They were particularly worried that he may have taken refuge outside India. Yet ironically, on Friday last week, this same task force arrived fully one-and-a-half hours late to arrest him. By then Sharma had surrendered before the court, after being at large since May this year. It turned out that Sharma had been comfortably ensconced in Bhopal the night before his surrender, but the task force appeared to have no clue about this. "He surrendered only to save the police," said a member of the main opposition Congress. Maybe the fact that the scandal had reached the doorstep of Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan's doorsteps, with allegations of his family members' involvement, may have had something to do with Sharma's abrupt surrender.