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9 THE TIMES OF INDIA, BENGALURUTUESDAY, JULY 7, 2015TIMES NATION | Sinister Scam

VYAPAM DANCE OF DEATH CONTINUES

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Bhopal:Adding to the stringof Vyapam-related deaths inthe last couple of days, twomore deaths related to the ad-mission and recruitmentscam were reported on Mon-day, taking the toll to 48 andfurther adding to MadhyaPradesh chief minister Shiv-raj Singh’s troubles.

While the body of SI Ana-mika Kushwaha, who wasrecruited through Vyapam,was found in a lake in Sagar,constable Ramakant Pandey, asuspect in the scam, committedsuicide in Tikamgarh. WithMonday’s deaths, four peoplewho were connected with thescam and its probe have died inthe last 48 hours alone.

But the MP governmentdenied that the deaths haveany connection with thescam. Government spokes-man Narottam Mishra andforest minister Gaurishan-kar Shejwar said Congress isplaying politics over deadbodies and linking everydeath to the scam. Mishrasaid Jabalpur medical collegedean Dr Arun Sharma, whodied on Sunday, was also notinvolved in the scam probe.

The body of 25-year-oldAnamika was found in a lakeadjacent to the Police Train-ing Academy at Sagar. She al-legedly jumped into the lakein the morning.

Anamika’s father Rajlak-han Singh, a constable postedin Morena district, deniedthat his daughter’s death hadanything to do with Vyapam,while her sister said thedeath was suspicious, addingthat Anamika could not com-mit suicide. “The in-laws ofmy daughter and her hus-band demanded money frommy daughter, she was ha-rassed,” Rajlakhan told TOI.

In the second incident, thebody of Ramakant Pandey, 35,was found hanging from aceiling fan at the special tour-ist police outpost in Tikam-

garh’s Orchha, where he wasposted. Orchha SHO DilipSingh Yadav said no suicidenote was found from the spot.The Tikamgarh SP said Ra-makant, an alcoholic, was de-pressed as he was debt-ridden.

Ramakant was ques-tioned by the STF probingthe scam a few months ago af-ter three constables were ar-rested from Chhatarpur forfixing the recruitment ex-ams for constables.

Two Cops Die In24 Hrs; ShivrajFeels The Heat

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Lucknow: Another studentfrom King George’s MedicalUniversity has been arrestedby MP police’s special taskforce in connection with theVyapam scam. This is theninth student from Lucknow’smedical university to be ar-rested in connection with thescam. Apart from him, 10 oth-ers were picked up for ques-tioning from the medical uni-versity campus but were let off.

Sources in the MP STF re-vealed that most studentsfrom KGMU have played therole of solvers to facilitatetheir hirers. They either tookthe exam in place of some can-didate or sat right behind thecandidate and exchanged the

answer-sheets. According toKGMU authorities, the stu-dent, Virendra Bind, was ar-rested by the MP STF from hisnative village in UP’s Bhadohion Saturday. A student of the2014 batch, Bind was bro-ughtto the KGMU campus on Mon-day afternoon.

Addressing reporters,KGMU vice-chancellor, pro-fessor Ravi Kant, said that or-ders to cancel Bind’s hostel al-lotment were issued.

9th studentfrom UP medvarsity linkedto scam held

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: While circum-stantial evidence, includingseizure of medicines and anempty liquor bottle from DrArun Sharma’s hotel room in-dicate that a lethal concoctionof alcohol and medicinesmight have killed the Jabalpurdean, the police as well as doc-tors probing his death are puz-zled as the initial post-mortemreport terms the cause ofdeath as ‘inconclusive’.

The autopsy was con-ducted on Monday by a medi-cal board comprising AIIMSdoctors, who’ve preservedthe viscera for examination.It will undergo toxicologyand other chemical and bio-logical tests to establish thecause of death. Apart fromthe liquor, Sharma is believedto have taken around four pillsfor diabetes and BP. Policefound vials of Amtas and Gly-comer in a plastic bag with hisluggage. Also found were anti-depressant pills Pexep. Doc-tors are probing if these medi-cines taken collectively alongwith alcohol might have reac-ted, causing death.

Sharma, 64, was the deanof the Netaji Subhash Chan-dra Bose Medical College inJabalpur and heading a teamconstituted by the MP gov-ernment to probe the Vya-pam scam. He was said to bediabetic and also sufferedfrom anxiety and hyperten-sion, sources said. His father,NK Sharma, was the MPCongress chief when Pra-kash Chandra Sethi was theCM in the early to mid-1970s.

The search of his hotelroom led to the recovery ofhalf a bottle of liquor whichSharma is believed to haveconsumed. A review of the ho-tel’s CCTV footage suggestsno one met him in the room.

Sharma had reached Del-hi by a flight on Saturdayaround 4pm and checked intoUppal Ecotel around 4.30pm.Upon arrival, he spoke to a

friend in Delhi while still atthe airport, according to hiscall record details. Prima fa-cie, no foul play seems to haveoccurred, cops said.

Hotel authorities saidSharma had asked for a dou-ble bedroom for an overnightstay and requested them togive him a wake-up callaround 4.30am on Sunday. Hewas to fly to Agartala around6.10am. Hotel staff said he waslast seen around 7pm duringdinner after which he went tohis room (number 234).

The room service calledSharma on the intercomaround 4.35pm but he didn’trespond. Hotel officials toldpolice one of the room serviceboys was sent to his room, buthis knocks went unanswered.The staff, at around 6am,called the cops, who foundSharma lying on bed in hisnight dress.

Did lethal mixof booze, medskill MP dean?

Union home ministerRajnath Singh on Monday

said it was for the MadhyaPradesh high court to decidewhether a CBI probe wasrequired into the Vyapam scamas the special investigatingteam (SIT) probing the scamwas reporting to the HC andnot to the state government.“Court is satisfied with the SITprobe. HC will take cognizanceof the things which haveinfluenced the probe. Congresshas already demanded a CBIprobe in court. It is up to the HCwhether the CBI should probethe scam,” Singh said. TNN

Will OK CBI probe ifHC orders: Rajnath

Arun Sharma

Rattled by the death trail inthe Vyapam scam,

Jabalpur’s IMA (IndianMedical Association) chief, DrSudhir Tiwari, said on Mondaythat he would be forced toappoint private securityguards because the policehave turned a deaf ear to hisrequests. Not waiting for thatto happen, however, Congressdeputed six party workersarmed with lathis outsideTiwari’s home for his security.Two days ago, Arun Sharma,the dean of a Jabalpur medicalcollege, had handed over a200-page file withincriminating documents onthe scam to cops. Exasperatedby the police’s refusal to granthim security cover, Tiwari saidthat his “friends in Congress”had deputed “bodyguards” inview of the deaths. TNN

Denied police cover,Jabalpur IMA chiefmay arrange his own

He had been questioned by the SpecialTask Force probing the scam a fewmonths ago. Tikamgarh SP Nimish

Agarwal said Pandey, an alcoholic, had beendepressed because he was saddled withmounting debt.

The two cases came after the spookydeaths of TV journalist Akshay Singh just af-ter talking to the family of Namrata Damor,an alleged beneficiary of the admission rack-et who was found dead near railway tracksthree years ago, and Dr Arun Sharma, deanof a medical college in Jabalpur. Sharma waspart of the probe into fraudulent admissionsin the medical college as part of the fraud.

Uma Bharati, meanwhile, expressed re-sentment over being included in one of theVyapam-related FIRs on the basis of thestatement of an accused. “It is a very deepconspiracy. The biggest example of the deepconspiracy is that my name is in it. Because Ihave nothing to do with this. If I am there,then some very serious conspiracy is there,”Bharti told PTI. She acknowledged the over-powering sense of intrigue over the deaths,saying: “Maybe nobody is killing them. Butthe fear and shame of innocent people arecausing brain hemorrhage, heart attack orsuicide. When I heard my name in Vyapam,even I went through lot of trauma.”

Bharati backed Chouhan in the face of theopposition’s shrill demands for his resigna-tion, saying he had a clean image. “I standwith Shivraj ji, I’m concerned about him as

he’s a sensitive person,” she said. But hersympathy for her BJP colleague only under-lined the trouble the Vyapam scandal hasthrown up for Chouhan when he appeared tobe cruising along on the strength of his solidperformance as three-term CM of a statewhich under his tenure grew out of the ‘BI-MARU’ club to take its place among the fast-growing ones. The day saw BJP spokesper-sons aggressively rallying around the suc-cessful satrap who risks getting stained bythe scam but there was a recognition thatChouhan’s own credentials may not be suffi-cient for his defence. With the SIT set to sub-mit its charge-sheet in the scam by July 15,there are fears of the death toll rising becauseof the likely desperation among the kingpins.

There are indications that the Chouhangovernment may agree to any suggestion bythe Supreme Court to hand over the probe tothe CBI — a demand already made by Congressand others — in order to control the damage.

‘Dead cop was an alcoholic,depressed with rising debt’�Continued from page 1

Protesters demand CBI probe into Vyapam scam

The Supreme Court onMonday agreed to hear a

petition challenging theMadhya Pradesh high court’sdecision to quash an FIR againstgovernor Ram Naresh Yadavdespite serious allegationsagainst him in the Vyapamscam. It posted the case forhearing on July 9. Meanwhile,AAP’s Kumar Vishwas also fileda petition in the apex courtrequesting it to take cognizanceof deaths in the scam. FormerMP chief minister DigvijaySingh too has moved the SCseeking an independentinvestigation into the scam. TNN

For the full report, log on towww.timesofindia.com

Court will hear pleaagainst guv on July 9

UNDER LENS: Madhya Pradeshchief minister Shivraj SinghChouhan in Bhopal on Monday

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