[2] Rai is known for arresting fellow police officers D G Vanzara, R K Pandian, and Dinesh M N in connection with the 2005 death of Sohrabuddin Sheikh.
[1] The three officers whom Rai arrested were said to be close to politician Amit Shah and also involved in the death of Sohrabuddin Sheikh, the Ishrat Jahan case, and the Tulsiram Prajapati killing.
[10] Rai also claimed that this posting was a government punishment due to his role in arresting other police officers in the death of Sohrabuddin Sheikh.
[11] He also reported that the Indian army including the Sashastra Seema Bal had killed two members of the National Democratic Front of Boroland in a fake police encounter.
[6] Rahul Sharma, a former police officer turned civil rights lawyer, has represented Rai in his complaints about harassment following his whistleblower activity.
[14][15] Rai claimed that academic test observers harassed him with cheating accusations while he sought his undergraduate law degree.
[15][18] The Statesman praised Rai along with Sanjiv Bhatt and Rahul Sharma as being among the senior IPS officers who had been defending the constitutional rights and law since the 2002 Gujarat riots.
[4] Hindustan Times praised Rai for his courage in as a whistleblower in the encounter killings of Sohrabuddin Sheikh, Sohra's wife, Tulsiram, and the NDFB members.