Vyapam scam: Former minister Laxmikant Sharma released from jail

Former Madhya Pradesh minister Laxmikant Sharma, one of the main accused in the Vyapam scam, was released on bail from Bhopal central jail on Sunday after spending 18 months behind bars

Former Madhya Pradesh minister Laxmikant Sharma, one of the main accused in the Vyapam scam, was released on bail from Bhopal central jail on Sunday after spending 18 months behind bars.

Former minister Laxmikant Sharma waves to his supporters outside Bhopal Central Jail from where he was released on Sunday. (Praveen Bajpai/HT Photo)

Hundreds of his supporters, mostly from his hometown Sironj in Vidisha district, reached the jail premises ahead of his release.

However, his former ministerial colleagues and senior members of the ruling BJP remained absent. None of the leaders chose to come forward in his support even with any statement.

Sharma, however, found some support by party’s national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya, who through his Twitter post congratulated him on getting bail saying that the truth will ultimately prevail.

Sharma was granted bail on Friday by the high court’s Jabalpur bench in the last of the 7 cases related to the scam in which he had not been able to get bail till the day.

It took almost whole day on Saturday for his family members to get the required documents from the district jail. Hence he couldn’t be released from the jail till the evening.

Unlike Sharma, another main accused in the scam, the then OSD to governor Ram Naresh Yadav, Dhanraj Yadav was released from the same jail on Saturday evening.

Talking to media persons, the former minister said he was out of jail after undergoing a ‘sadhna’ (a rigorous spiritual practice) for 18 months. He would continue to serve public as he did earlier.

“I have complete faith in the God, the investigating agencies and the judiciary. I will get justice”, he added.