Govt can't ask court to order CBI probe: HM

Amid bitter political exchanges in New Delhi and Bhopal and yet another Vyapam-related mysterious death, this time of a trainee woman Sub-Inspector (S-I) in Sagar in Madhya Pradesh, Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday said the Government would respect the judicial verdict over the demand for a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the scam. He said the SIT probe into the Vyapam (Madhya Pradesh Professional Examination Board) scam  was being monitored by the Madhya Pradesh High Court and the Government cannot direct the court to hand it over to the CBI. 

On a day trainee S-I Anamika Sikarwar (25) was found dead in a lake adjacent to the Police Training Academy at Sagar district headquarters, triggering fresh demands for a Supreme Court (SC)-monitored probe into the scam, Singh said, “SIT probe into the scam is on and the Government cannot direct the High Court (HC) or the SC on the issue.” Singh was speaking to reporters at Jhabua where he had gone to pay tribute to late BJP MP Dileep Singh Bhuria at his ancestral village Macchlia.

Asked why the State Government was avoiding a CBI probe into the massive recruitment/admission scam, Singh said the HC and the SC had already rejected a PIl in this regard. “There is no point in handing over the ongoing probe to the CBI at this juncture,” he said.“In case someone tries to influence the probe, or if any incident takes place that affects the investigation, then I am sure that the court will take cognizance.” If the SC or the HC feel that the probe is not perfect to the extent it should be, then they will give directions and the Government will immediately accept it and hand over the matter to the CBI,” Singh said.

In a related development, the SC agreed to hear a petition seeking removal of Madhya Pradesh Governor Ram Naresh Yadav over his alleged involvement in the massive admission and recruitment scandal in the State.  Ram Naresh Yadav, a former CM of Uttar Pradesh, was made an accused in the scam before getting relief from the court.

An SC Bench, comprising Chief Justice Hl Dattu and Justices Arun Kumar Mishra and Amitava Roy, said that it will hear the petition filed by a group of lawyers about the Vyapam scam along with other pleas on July 9.The trainee S-I’s death has come on the heels of the unexplained deaths of India Today Group investigative journalist Akshay Singh and Jabalpur Medical College Dean Arun Sharma.

While Singh was covering the Vyapam scam in Jhabua and died soon after interviewing the parents of an accused in the scam who herself was found dead near railway track, Sharma who was probing fake examinees, was found dead under mysterious circumstances in a hotel at Dwarka in South-West Delhi.

Sagar City Superintendent of Police Gautam Solanki said they suspect Anamika’s death to be a case of suicide, a claim promptly dismissed by the Congress.

Anamika was selected as a trainee S-I in an exam conducted by Vyapam, but police said that her selection has nothing to do with the Vyapam scam and she was not a suspected beneficiary.Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan also quickly denied that the incident was linked to the Vyapam probe.”It is a sad and unfortunate incident. But with all responsibility I say that there is no connection of that unfortunate incident with Vyapam or its probe. And it is not fair to link all such unfortunate incidents to Vyapam,” he said.

The Congress, which has sought a SC-monitored CBI probe, stepped up its attack on Chouhan, demanding that he be sacked to allow an impartial investigation and said that he cannot escape responsibility for “45 deaths” of people having some connection with the issue.“Shivraj Singh Chouhan should be sacked and an impartial probe should be done into the Vyapam scam,” Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said in New Delhi.

 In Bhopal, the ruling BJP Government accused the Congress of “playing politics over the deceased” and asserted that Sharma’s death was not related to the case. “It is very unfortunate that the Congress is playing politics over bodies. They (Congress) are trying to connect deaths to Vyapam scam. The State Government stands with bereaved families in the hour of their grief,” said State Health Minister Narottam Mishra.  

Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh alleged that the death of the trainee S-I was linked to the scam. “Trainee cop recruited through Vyapam commits suicide in Sagar Police Academy MP.  46th or 47th (sic)IJ,” he tweeted. CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee,  former Finance Minister  P Chidambaram and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal have also criticized both the State and Central Government for not taking effective steps to bring out the truth in the Vyapam scam.

The police in Sagar said Anamika, was married and was a resident of Morena district. She was found missing from her room and later her body was found in the lake. Police have sealed her room in the academy and so far no suicide note has been found. The exact cause will be known after a probe, SP Solanki said adding initial investigations are on in the case.

Meanwhile, a medical board on Monday conducted a post-mortem on the body of the dean of Jabalpur Medical College, a day after he was found dead in a hotel under mysterious circumstances even as Delhi Police chief BS Bassi said no foul play could be suspected as per the initial probe. The Police Commissioner said investigators were probing various angles in the case “notwithstanding” the initial reports.