The Madhya Pradesh police’s special task force (STF), which initiated the re-investigation of Vyapam scam on direction of then Congress-led state government in July 2019, has found 70% complaints vague and anonymous and not even related to the scam, said an STF officer.
However, the opposition Congress has alleged that it’s Bharatiya Janata Party government which prevailed over the STF to dispose of complaints without indicting anyone.
Also read: Five years on, Vyapam scam returns to haunt Madhya Pradesh
According to the STF officer, the force had received 1,355 Vyapam-related complaints in 2013 and 2014. During this period, the STF registered 154 cases and handed them over to the CBI in July 2015, under orders of the Supreme Court. A large number of complaints were handed over to various district police stations and 197 complaints were pending with the task force.
“STF started scrutiny of these 197 complaints last year in July and didn’t find complaints related to Vyapam scam or any other organized crime. Out of 197, STF found more than 70% complaints vague and anonymous as reportedly these were mainly based on accusations against individual candidates, high profile people and government officers without any evidence while the remaining were mostly against candidates for allegedly using fake documents and committing irregularities in different recruitment exams. There were more of personal complaints than any concrete charge related to Vyapam scam,” said the STF officer who didn’t wish to be named.
“Out of the remaining, 55 complaints have been disposed of and 16 FIRs have been registered against 16 people for using fake domicile certificates and forged documents, in February this year. The probe in the remaining few complaints has come to a halt in the absence of any documents related to proof for the past six months,” said another officer.
{{/usCountry}}“Out of the remaining, 55 complaints have been disposed of and 16 FIRs have been registered against 16 people for using fake domicile certificates and forged documents, in February this year. The probe in the remaining few complaints has come to a halt in the absence of any documents related to proof for the past six months,” said another officer.
{{/usCountry}}STF, additional director general (ADG) of police, Vipin Maheshwari said, “Out of the total complaints, a few complaints have been found worthy of investigation but these are not related to Vyapam scam. Mostly these are individual complaints against candidates who appeared in different exams organised by MP Professional Examination Board (Vyapam). The investigation in these complaints is getting delayed as it needs proof, which are being collected from other government departments.”
We will take all the complaints to a logical end soon, said Maheshwari.
The CBI has already completed the investigation in 164 complaints out of 170 and filed charge sheets. In five of the remaining cases, the CBI will soon file supplementary charge sheets and in one case, a fresh charge sheet. According to a CBI officer, no foul play was found in 16 death cases out of the 24 related to middlemen, candidates and a journalist, who died during Vyapam scam investigation.
The CBI has also filed a second closure report in the matter of much hyped death case of medical student Namrata Damor, which is pending before the court, said a CBI officer, who is not authorized to talk to media.
Meanwhile, the whistle blowers said it was the end of Vyapam scam. “The STF didn’t register the statement of complainants. They didn’t even try to investigate the pending complaints. Otherwise, they would have surely found how medical college owners, politicians and government officers were involved in the scam and were also hiding important proof during the earlier investigation. When STF officers were afraid of taking action against high profile people during the regime of then Congress-led state government, we couldn’t have thought of any action against them under the BJP. Now, there is no hope left for justice to Vyapam scam victims,” said Dr Anand Rai, whistleblower and RTI activist.
Another whistleblower, Ashish Chaturvedi, said, “Vyapam scam is now a thing of past. The CBI has already failed in probing the case efficiently and STF didn’t do anything concrete except registering FIR against some people. I put my life to risk to fight against high profile people for ruining the future of at least one generation but real culprits managed everything so well that the truth didn’t come out.”
Congress MLA and former public relation minister PC Sharma said, “BJP formed its government in a hurry as its leaders were afraid of being sent behind the bars. It’s not STF which didn’t find anything but its BJP-led state government which asked the STF to dispose of all the complaints to save their people.”
Home minister Narottam Mishra refused to comment when HT reached out via phone.
BJP spokesperson Rajneesh Agrawal said, “Congress leaders have now started raising questions on everything. The investigative agency did its work efficiently, whether it was the CBI or the STF. The then Congress-led state government’s decision on re-investigation was just a political gimmick. The STF had already taken up all the complaints during investigation in 2013 and 2014.”
The Vyapam scam surfaced in July 2013 when police in Indore arrested 20 impersonators appearing for the medical entrance examination. Vyapam is the acronym for Vyavsayik Pareeksha Mandal, the Hindi name for the Madhya Pradesh Professional Examination Board (MPPEB) which conducts entrance examinations for professional courses and recruitment tests for government posts ranging from food inspectors to forest guards. In all, 3,500 people were made accused by the CBI in different cases.