DAY BEFORE HEARING, VYAPAM SCAM ACCUSED FOUND DEAD

BHOPAL: The body of Dr Pravin Yadav, an accused in the Vyapam scam of Madhya Pradesh, was found hanging at his home in Maharajpur village of Morena district on Wednesday morning.

Dr Yadav, a 2008 batch passout from GR Medical College in Gwalior, was made an accused in the case in 2012. His case is going on in the Jabalpur bench of the Madhya Pradesh high court and he was to attend a hearing slated on Thursday.

The Vypam scam has been dogged by controversies since it was exposed.

According to statistics presented in the court in June 2015, at least 10 people linked to the racket were killed in road accidents, while four committed suicide. Apart from these documented deaths, an HT investigation revealed that there were at least 12 more deaths in the realm of suspicion.

Sources said the dead include those who were part of the racket that helped candidates crack exams, middlemen and victims.

Police sources said Yadav’s family members told them that he was depressed for the past several months because of the court case and the fact that his career was in ruins. He did not leave behind any suicide note. Morena police have registered a case of death and are probing the matter.

The Professional Examination Board (PEB) fraud — also known as Vyapam scam from the board’s Hindi acronym — involved multiple rackets that helped candidates rig the examinations for money, including employing imposters to write test papers, manipulating seating arrangements as well as supplying forged answer sheets.

ACCORDING TO STATISTICS PRESENTED IN THE COURT IN JUNE 2015, 10 PEOPLE LINKED TO THE RACKET WERE KILLED IN ROAD ACCIDENTS, WHILE FOUR COMMITTED SUICIDE