Bhopal: Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan Tuesday buckled under pressure and sought a probe by a federal agency) into the recruitment scam that has allegedly claimed scores of lives.

Chouhan, who had ruled out such a step until Monday, made a U-turn and decided to seek the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the murky Vyapam scam.

His move came on the same day the Supreme Court agreed to hear petitions on the scam.

Chouhan’s change of mind came a day after federal Home Minister Rajnath Singh ruled out a CBI probe in the absence of a direction from the court.

Following Chouhan’s announcement at a press conference, the state government moved the Madhya Pradesh High Court seeking its direction for institution of a CBI probe into the massive admission and recruitment scam.

As the chief minister made the surprise announcement in the scam that is said to have claimed 45 lives, there was a scare about the health of one of the accused, who is currently in jail after he had developed illness.

However, O.P. Shukla, Officer on Special Duty to former minister Laxmikant Sharma, one of the main accused in the case, was discharged after doctors found he did not need hospitalization.

Shukla is suffering from muscular dystrophy, high blood pressure and diabetes, Superintendent M R Patel of Central Jail, Bhopal, told PTI.

Under intense opposition attack and mounting public outrage over a string of deaths of people associated with Vyapam, a beleaguered Chouhan, a third time chief minister, announced his decision to recommend to the high court a CBI inquiry.

“I have full respect for both High Court and the Supreme Court and have total faith in the ongoing probe into the Vyapam scam,” he told a hurriedly convened press conference in Bhopal.

In a related development, the Supreme Court agreed to hear on July 9 the plea of Congress leader Digvijay Singh and three whistleblowers seeking an apex court-monitored CBI probe into the scam.

Singh, a former MP chief minister, and whistleblowers — Ashish Chaturvedi, Anand Rai and Prashant Pandey — have also moved the apex court seeking a CBI probe under its supervision.

Congress dismissed the move and insisted merely an investigation by the premier agency would not suffice and that it should be monitored by the Supreme Court.

Keywords: Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Vyapam Scam, CBI probe