BJP not interfering in EC’s working, says Gujarat CM Vyapam-linked deaths row a result of police goof-up: CBI
NEWDELHI: Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani on Sunday dismissed charges that the BJP was interfering with the Election Commission’s work and said it was up to the poll panel to announce election dates in the state.
“We are not interfering in the announcement of election dates. Let the Election Commission (EC) act at its own discretion,” Rupani told a news channel.
His remarks came amid a row after the EC did not announce poll dates for BJP-ruled Gujarat, while announcing the same for Congress-ruled Himachal Pradesh. The Congress accused the Modi government of “grossest interference” in the working of the poll body.
Rupani said polls would be held on time in Gujarat and the opposition should protest “had we been delaying elections”.
Responding to the charge that poll announcement was delayed to allow the BJP government to announce sops before the model code of conduct comes into effect, Rupani said: “If we implement government programmes, what is wrong with it?”
He added, “We are not concerned with the dates, we will continue to serve the people and fulfil their demands. It is my duty to work for people till the last date. When poll dates are announced, we will stop.” NEWDELHI: The controversy over Vyapam scam-linked deaths erupted as Madhya Pradesh police included the names of dead people as accused in its FIRs registered in the cases related to the admission and recruitment scam, the CBI has found.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) was entrusted with looking into the alleged conspiracy to eliminate suspects booked in the admissions and recruitment scam in MP. The probe agency was asked to investigate deaths of 24 individuals.
Among the 24 deaths, 16 took place much before the deceased were booked in the scam by the state police, the probe has found, ruling out any conspiracy. The remaining deaths were due to natural causes, the agency said.
Ram Shankar (name changed) died on June 18, 2007, from drowning but seven years later, he was named as an accused in an FIR, sources said.
The probe into the case of Shankar, whose death was alleged to be the result of a conspiracy to eliminate suspects in the scam, shows he died on June 18, 2007, sources said. However, in an FIR registered on June 18, 2014, the state police named him an alleged impersonator who solved papers of aspirants for a price. The post-mortem report showed death from drowning and two eyewitnesses confirmed it.
He is not alone. The probe has found that there was nothing suspicious about 23 deaths in which 15 preliminary enquiries were registered by the CBI.
All the 15 enquiries have been closed by the agency as nothing suspicious was found in these deaths. “This was the modus operandi adopted by middlemen. During initial questioning, they took names of people who were already dead, portraying them as solvers or secondary middlemen or part of racket to get impersonators,” a source said.