Day before hearing, Vyapam scam accused found dead in MP’s Morena district

Vyapam scam accused was depressed over the past several month because of the court case and that his career was in ruins, police sources said.

Body of Dr Pravin Yadav, an accused in the multi-layered Vyapam scam of Madhya Pradesh, was found hanging at his home in Maharajpur village of Morena district on Wednesday morning.

Madhya Pradesh Professional Examination Board office in Bhopal. (Mujeeb Faruqui/HT File Photo)

Dr Yadav, a passout of the 2008 batch from the GR Medical College in Gwalior, had been made an accused in the case in 2012. His case is going on in the Jabalpur bench of the Madhya Pradesh high court and he was to attend a hearing slated on Thursday.

The Vypam scam has been dogged by controversy with at least 10 people linked to scam being killed in road accidents and four more committing suicide, according to statistics presented in the court in June 2015.

Apart from these documented deaths, an HT investigation had showed that there were at least 12 more deaths that were in the realm of suspicion.

Sources said the dead include those who were part of the racket that helped candidates crack examinations, middle-men and the victims.

Police sources said Yadav’s family members told them that Pravin was depressed for the past several months because of the court case and the fact that his career was in ruins.

He did not leave any suicide note. Morena police have registered a case of death and are investigating the matter.

The Professional Examination Board (PEB) fraud — also known as the Vyapam scam from the board’s Hindi acronym — involved multiple rackets that helped candidates rig the examinations for money, including employing imposters to write test papers, manipulating sitting arrangements as well as supplying forged answer sheets.

So far, nearly 2,000 people, including politicians and government officials, have been arrested in connection with the scam.