New Delhi: The mysterious deaths of a TV journalist and a doctor on two consecutive days have led to calls for a top level probe into a nasty scam that has claimed at least 35 lives in past six years.
Akshay Singh, who worked for the TV Today group, was on Sunday cremated in New Delhi a day after he died suddenly in Meghnagar near Jhabua, a town in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. Political leaders from both ruling and opposition groups attended the cremation at Nigambodh Ghat in central Delhi.
On the same day, police discovered the body of Arun Sharma, dean of a medical college in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, from a hotel in New Delhi.
Sharma’s medical college was linked to the same Vyapam scam that Singh was reporting. The scam hinges on top politicians and bureaucrats of Madhya Pradesh who allegedly accepted kickbacks in exchange for allowing imposters to take the recruitment exam for government jobs and admission to colleges.
Vyapam is the acronym for Vyavasaik Pareeksha Mandal or the Professional Examination Board of Madhya Pradesh state. It was set up as a self-financed and autonomous body under the state government to conduct entrance tests for medical and engineering courses.
The board has been conducting competitive tests for admission on a large scale. It practically conducts tests for all professional courses and recruitment to numerous jobs.
Besides Singh and Sharma, at least 33 people, who were either witnesses or accused in the scam, have died since 2009. This has prompted the opposition parties to demand an inquiry by the Central Bureau of Investigation.
Sharma, 64, was assisting the Special Task Force that is probing the scam, providing documents on fake medical entrance examinees in the state-run medical college he headed. He had come to the national capital on Saturday as part of Medical Council of India’s inspection team that was to go to Agartala, capital of Tripura state in northeastern India.
Sudheer Tiwari, an official of the Indian Medical Association, said Sharma had given more than 200 pieces of information to the task force about Vyapam. “I have got to know this from someone. I won’t make the name public since everyone’s life is in danger,” he added.
Sharma had taken over as dean of the NS Medical College only two months ago. The earlier dean, D K Sakalle was found burnt to death at his home exactly a year ago.
Journalist Singh had on Saturday interviewed the parents of Namrata Damor, whose body was found near railway tracks in Ujjain three years ago. She was among more than 300 ineligible candidates managed to get into the merit list of pre medical test of 2010. Her death in 2012 was initially treated as a case of suicide, but two years later, her name appeared in the list of students who had cleared the test using unfair means.
After the interview Singh and was standing outside their house when he started frothing at the mouth. He was rushed to civil hospital and later to a private hospital, but doctors failed to revive him. From there, he was taken to another hospital in nearby Dahod in Gujarat, where he was declared brought dead.
Dr Ashok Bachani, Medical Officer of the Dahod Civil Hospital told ANI news agency that the autopsy does not show foul-play. “No external wounds were found in the body. To determine the reason behind death we have sent viscera for histopathology and forensic analysis. After reports come in, we’ll be able to give in a reason behind death,” he added.