CBI to probe 9 more suspicious deaths

MURKY DETAILS Agency spokesperson says these deaths were not examined by local police; two more cases registered with 175 people named as accused

BHOPAL: The Central Bureau of Investigation on Saturday registered a preliminary enquiry into the “unnatural” deaths of nine people, who were associated to the multi-layered and multi-crore Vyapam scam. The agency claimed the local police had not probed these deaths, despite the fact most of these deaths are shrouded in mystery.

The nine people whose deaths the CBI has taken cognisance of are Anand Singh, Ashutosh Tiwari, Gyan Singh, Anant Ram Tagore, Ravendra Prakash Singh, Premlata Pandey, Vikas Pandey, Rajendra Arya and Sanjay Kumar Yadav.

Anand Singh, a resident of Uttar Pradesh and a middleman in the scam, had died in a road accident in 2013. Ashutosh Tiwari, according to police records, had died in 2013 due to excessive consumption of alcohol. He was a student of the Gajra Raja Medical College (GRMC), Gwalior. Gyan Singh, also a student at GRMC, died of liver failure, as did Dr Rajendra Arya.

Anant Ram Tagore, a resident of Morena and the father of a student who benefitted due to scam, had died of cancer, as did Hemlata Pandey, accused in the teachers’ recruitment scam. Ravendra Prakash Singh, an MBBS student from Singrauli, committed suicide in 2014. Vikas Pandey, a middleman from Allahabad, died due to a brain haemorrhage in 2014. Sanjay Yadav, a Special Armed Forces jawan from Bhopal, was an arrest witness of the Special Task Force and died of jaundice in February, 2015.

The CBI on Saturday also registered two other cases where a total of 175 people were named accused. The first case dealt with alleged illegalities in the Contractual School Teachers Eligibility Test (grade 3) conducted in 2011 by Vyapam with 99 people have been accused. The second case was registered to probe alleged illegalities in Contractual School Teachers Eligibility Test (grade 2) conducted in 2011 and included the names of 76 persons.