The biggest scam in the history of the country, the Vyapam scam was brought into light in 2013, and concerns to the manipulation in the selection process for government jobs conducted by the Madhya Pradesh Professional Examination. Vyapam is acronym for MP's Vyavasik Pareeksha Mandal, which conducts tests for professional courses and recruitment for various posts. Officials, businessmen and politicians were reported to be involved in putting up proxy examinees on basis of which, candidates were recruited.
However, the real situation arose after investigation into the scam began. One after another, people involved; including witnesses, accused, those assisting the probe, and a journalist, started dying in what has been observed as a domino effect. One after the other, people variously linked with the scam are dying, and the mystery deepens with every new death reported even as the probe agencies struggle to unravel it.
Over 2,000 people have been arrested in connection with the scam so far, including former education minister Laxmikant Sharma. The arrested people included over a hundred of politicians, several MPPEB officials, bureaucrats, middlemen, students and their parents. Out of these, over 40 people have already met their end.
Investigation of the case started after a report was lodged based on the information of an Indore-based civil rights activist, Dr Anand Rai. He believes only 10 of the 40 reported deaths are related to the scam. “10 of the deaths that have occurred so far are in suspicious circumstances. The rest may be a matter of coincidence. I do not know about the rest who died but 10 of these, including journalist Akshay Singh, Namarata Damor and Narendra Tomar, have died in very suspicious circumstances.”
Other major whistleblower and cyber forensic specialist Prashant Pandey said it was clear that some of the deaths were mysterious, with the most recent case being that of journalist Akshay Singh. Another person to be highlighted is Gwalior-based social activist Ashish Chaturvedi, who claimed to have disclosed the involvement of chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan's relatives and seven others in the scam. All of them claim they fear for their lives.
Opposition parties, journalists and activities have strongly propagated against the removal of the chief minister and ask how Chouhan can continue to avoid his moral responsibility for a crime committed right under his very nose in Bhopal that spoiled the careers of hundreds of meritorious and talented youngsters.
Madhya Pradesh high court initially rejected Congress leader Digvijaya Singh's demand for a CBI probe and formed a special investigating team to investigate the case. However, considering the growing tensions, chief minister Shivraj Chouhan has “yielded to the wishes of the public” and asked for a CBI probe in the case. “A democracy functions on the voice of the people,” he said. “The incidents of the last few days have disturbed me. I have asked for the CBI to examine the deaths as well, but don't link every death to the investigation.”
