leaders across party lines attend scribe's last rites

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi attended the last rites of investigative TV journalist Akshay Singh on Sunday in the capital amid mounting outrage over his mysterious death. Akshay Singh was covering the Vyapam scam which took another twist on Sunday as a Dean of a Jabalpur medical college, said to be probing fake examinees in the Vyapam scam, was also found dead under mysterious circumstances at a hotel in South-West Delhi’s Dwarka.

Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, Delhi BJP chief Satish Upadhyaya, Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee chief Ajay Maken and Congress leaders Digvijay Singh and Randeep Singh Surjewala also attended the cremation at Nigambodh Ghat in East Delhi.Singh, who was working with TV Today group, died on Saturday after he interviewed parents of a girl who was found dead after her name figured in the massive admission and recruitment scandal in Madhya Pradesh (Vyapam).

On the day of his cremation, a dean of a Jabalpur Medical College, said to be probing fake examinees in the Vyapam scam, was also found dead under mysterious circumstances at Hotel Uppal in South-West Delhi’s Dwarka.The Congress and Aam Aadmi Party mounted a sharp attack on the BJP Government in MP demanding a thorough investigation into the deaths of a number of persons allegedly related to the Vyapam scam, an admission and recruitment racket allegedly involving several bureaucrats and politicians. At least 25 accused and witnesses have died so far.

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi said he was pained to meet the family members of the journalist. “Pained to meet the mother, father and sister of Akshay Singh. My prayers are with them in this time of terrible grief,” Rahul Gandhi said in a tweet.Kejriwal demanded steps to ensure that the guilty are punished and there are no more deaths. “All deaths in the Vyapam scam so far ought to be thoroughly investigated. Guilty must be punished. Something must be done to prevent more deaths,” the Delhi CM tweeted.

Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley also expressed his grief over the incident. Jaitley said it was a matter of deep sorrow that a “very competent” journalist died while performing his duty. “I deeply mourn his death. My condolences to the family members,” he said, adding that a “very competent” career has been cut short, the best in whom was yet to come.

Union law Minister Sadananda Gowda, too, expressed grief, saying, “I really feel sorry and really it is a matter which needs to taken care of.”Delhi BJP president Satish Upadhyay, too, condoled the death of Aaj Tak reporter Akshay Singh, saying he was a fearless and talented journalist who worked on many big exposes and that his work had made him a renowned figure in the media fraternity in the last few years.

Meanwhile, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat called for a high-level probe into the untimely demise of the TV news journalist. An official release in Dehradun also said that Rawat expressed his sympathies for the bereaved family of Singh.Minutes after the interview on Friday, 38-year-old Akshay Singh had started frothing at the mouth. He was rushed to civil hospital and later to a private hospital in Jhabua in MP, but doctors failed to revive him. From there he was taken to another hospital in nearby Dahod in Gujarat, where he was declared brought dead.