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Another Vyapam death: Constable, a witness, died 2 months ago

A constable who was to appear as a witness in Madhya Pradesh’s examination and recruitment scam case died of an ailment two months ago, the Special Task Force investigating the scandal told a court on Wednesday.

Updated on: Jul 9, 2015, 15:04:58 IST
Hindustan Times | By , Bhopal
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A constable who was to appear as a witness in Madhya Pradesh’s examination and recruitment scam case died of an ailment two months ago, the Special Task Force investigating the scandal told a court on Wednesday.

Madhya-Pradesh-Professional-Examination-Board-PEB-office-in-Bhopal-HT-photo
Madhya-Pradesh-Professional-Examination-Board-PEB-office-in-Bhopal-HT-photo

With the report of witness Sanjay Yadav dying, the number of ‘unnatural’ deaths in the scandal, commonly called the Vyapam scam, has risen to 43.

The STF submitted the death certificate of 38-year-old Yadav, a witness in the police constable recruitment scam 2012-13.

Special STF court judge BS Bhadoriya, in whose court the papers were submitted, will take a call on the application — submitted along with Yadav’s death certificate — on Thursday.

The probe into one of India’s biggest corruption scandals has gotten murkier with more than 40 witnesses and accused dying in the past three years as whistleblowers allege a deliberate ploy to eliminate evidence and shield top ministers and bureaucrats.

But Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has denied all accusations, saying the trial by media only hurt the economic prospects of a state outpacing the national growth rate.

“Shivraj Singh Chouhan, the person who started the probe, has been put in the dock. The image of the state has been ruined, the image is that people here are being murdered,” he told Hindustan Times in Bhopal on Wednesday.

All eyes are now on the Supreme Court, which hears a batch of petitions on July 9, calling for a court-monitored CBI probe into the exam-rigging scandal involving imposters forged answer sheets to dupe MP professional examination board authorities. The Madhya Pradesh high court deferred a similar state government plea on Wednesday to July 20.

Read

An autopsy, 10 ‘suicides’: Quest for answers continues in Vyapam scam

Supreme Court to hear pleas on CBI probe into Vyapam scam on Thursday

Will go to SC if HC rejects plea for CBI probe of Vyapam: Chouhan

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