Vyapam Scam :Involved College Dean Found Dead & Journalist Covering Scam Falls Ill Suddenly, Dies

The 64-year-old dean of a medical college in Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh was found dead this morning at a hotel in Delhi where he had arrived yesterday. He was supposed to head to Agartala from Delhi as part of an inspection team of Medical Council of India.

The college Dr Arun Sharma headed was linked to the Vyapam recruitment scam which has engulfed top officials in Madhya Pradesh and is hinged on politicians and bureaucrats allegedly accepting kickbacks in exchange for allowing imposters to take the recruitment exam for government jobs and admission to colleges.

The dean who was found dead in Delhi today was assisting the Special Task Force that is probing Vyapam scam, by providing documents on fake medical entrance examinees in the state-run medical college that he headed.

Dr Sharma had taken over as dean of the NS Medical College only two months ago. The earlier dean, Dr DK Sakalle was found burnt to death at his home exactly a year ago.

Police sources said whiskey and some medicines were found near Dr Sharma’s bed. They said a post-mortem will be conducted after his son arrives in the capital.

At least 33 people who were either witnesses or accused in the scam have died over the last five years, leading to a demand for a CBI inquiry by the opposition. A journalist who worked for the India Today Group and was reporting on the scam died yesterday.

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, ruling out a probe by the CBI into the Vyapam scam and related deaths, today said the High Court is already monitoring the probe and the state government has no role in it.

A journalist working for a Delhi-based news channel suddenly took ill and died on Saturday after having interviewed parents of a girl who had been found dead near railway tracks after her name figured in the Vyapam scam which has rocked the Madhya Pradesh government.

The incident took place in Meghnagar near Jhabua town.Akshay Singh, who worked for the TV Today group, had called on the parents of Namrata Damor, whose body had been found under mysterious circumstances near railway tracks in Ujjain district.

Namrata’s father Mehtab Singh Damor said Akshay and two others visited their house on Saturday afternoon. After the interview was over, a person was sent to get some papers photocopied.

As Akshay was waiting outside Damor’s house, suddenly he started frothing at the mouth. He was rushed to civil hospital and later to a private hospital, 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.

At least 25 accused / witnesses have died so far in Vyapam scam, a massive admission and recruitment racket involving several bureaucrats and politicians, and the opposition Congress has been demanding a CBI probe into the matter.

Meanwhile, Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Babulal Gaur said the decision as to whether further probe was necessary into Akshay Singh’s death would be taken only after getting the autopsy report.

About the significant number of deaths of accused in Vyapam scam, the Home Minister said the matter was before the court and also under investigation.

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Source:Ndtv