Former Indian P.M. Arrested. Sort Of

NEW DELHI: Police arrested former Indian Prime Minister P.V. Narashima Rao Wednesday night for forging documents in an effort to which would prove the son of a political rival held an illegal overseas bank account. The officers appeared at Rao's home in central New Delhi to charge him , but left without the canny politico in custody; his lawyer was on hand to pay $715 in bail immediately. Rao is at the center of a large corruption scandal involving the 1989 document fraud along with two other charges, but is arguing that his poor health, and inadequate courtroom security for a person of his stature preclude his appearance. Rao resigned earlier this month after a five year stint as Prime Minister at the head of the Congress Party, under a cloud of corruption allegations. "Indians are fed up with corruption at all levels," says TIME's Dick Thompson. "When the allegations surfaced, they hit an important political nerve. It is even possible that the Indian Supreme Court is independently trying to move the investigations along." -->