Vyapam scam: 592 more charged

NEW DELHI/BHOPAL: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) filed charges against 592 people accused in the Vyapam scam before a special court in Bhopal, and also provided more details of the modus operandi in one of the biggest frauds the country has seen in the area of admissions to professional courses and recruitment for government jobs.

The charges, filed Thursday, were the 111th set of charges filed by the federal investigation agency and pertained to the 2012 medical college admission test conducted by the Madhya Pradesh Professional Examination Board (MPPEB), popularly known by its Hindi acronym, Vyapam. Among the 592 charged are the promoters of four private medical colleges in Madhya Pradesh. MPPEB conducts entrance examinations to a variety of professional courses and also for recruitment for some government jobs.

Thus far, CBI has filed formal charges against 1,600 accused in connection with the Vyapam scam through 111 chargesheets and officials at the agency say around 60 more are in the pipeline. The number is staggering because the fraud is believed to have lasted for five years, between 2008 and 2013.

CBI officials said the set of charges filed Thursday, against 592 people, could be the single biggest chargesheet filed by the agency.

Those charged are: 334 candidates, 155 parents/guardians of candidates, 46 invigilators, 22 middlemen, two officers of state’s Directorate of Medical Education, and four promoters of private medical colleges, JN Chauksey of LNCT Medical College, Ambrish Sharma of People's Medical College, Ajay Goenka of Chirayu Medical College (all in Bhopal) and Suresh Singh Bhadoriya of Index Medical College in Indore.