With an accused in the Vyapam scam dying under mysterious circumstances in an Indore jail, the Congress Party on Sunday asked the Madhya Pradesh Government to order a thorough investigation to get to the core of the matter."Such incidents are taking place regularly. Till now, at least seven to eight people have died like this. Actually, the Vyapam scam is one of the biggest scams of the Madhya Pradesh Government. I feel there is definitely some plotting behind it. The way people are being killed, I assume rather than the culprit, those who stand as a witness in this case are being killed brutally," Congress spokesperson Meem Afzal said.
"It is a very serious issue. The Madhya Pradesh Government must break its silence on this and immediately order a thorough investigation to find out the reason behind the recent killing," he added.The party's reaction came after Narendra Singh Tomar, an accused in the Vyapam scam, died under mysterious circumstances in an Indore jail.In this case, 24 accused and witnesses have died so far. The Vyapam Scam involved the Madhya Pradesh Professional Examination Board, which holds exams for positions like medical officers, constables, teachers and auditors for government departments.
Candidates allegedly bribed government officials to ensure that they made it to the list of those who cleared the test. Notably, the Special Investigating Team (SIT) probing the scandal had recently submitted a list of 23 deceased to the Madhya Pradesh High Court who had died an "unnatural death". Some reports have claimed 40 such deaths.Shailesh, was himself made an accused in the MPPEB scam before getting relief from the court. Shailesh's name had cropped up in the multi-crore scam for allegedly fixing the recruitment of 10 candidates as Grade III teachers.
An FIR was registered against Ram Naresh Yadav, 88, by the SIT for his alleged complicity in irregularities in recruitment of forest guards by MPPEB. However, the High Court later quashed it, holding he enjoyed immunity while in office. Vyapam scam is a massive admission and recruitment scandal involving politicians, bureaucrats and middlemen. Several politicians including former education minister laxmikant Sharma, a host of officials and scores of aspirants have been arrested in the case.
Congress has even accused Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan of complicity in the scam.