The Central Bureau of Investigation has registered three more First information Reports (FIRs) in the Vyapam scam cases. With this the total number of FIRs registered so far has gone up to eight.
Confirming this, CBI Director Anil Kumar Sinha said the agency is conscious of the expectations of the people and also equally conscious of the trust that the Supreme Court has put in it. “I can only say that our investigation will be foolproof. We will investigate with utmost sincerity and to the best of our capability and ability. We will be leaving no stone unturned,” he said here on the sidelines of a conference.
On Friday, the agency registered a case under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) against unknown persons in allegations pertaining to the death of Namrata Damor under mysterious circumstances in January 2012 and allegations of it being linked to the Vyapam scam cases. Another case was registered which pertains to illegalities in the Pre-Medical Test of MP 2010, while a third registered case related to illegalities in the Pre-Medical Test entrance examination conducted by Vyapam in 2010. There are four named accused in the FIR and seven other accused were added during investigations by STF and the MP Police.
On July 9, the Supreme Court had ordered transfer of the probe into all Vyapam scam cases and the deaths allegedly linked to it to CBI. The apex court had passed the order while hearing a batch of petitions, including the one filed by senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh, seeking an apex court-monitored CBI probe into all cases arising out of the Vyapam scam. While passing the order, the apex court had also taken on record the submission of the Madhya Pradesh government that it had no objection to transferring the investigation of cases relating to the Vyapam scam to CBI.
“I must tell you that we will investigate the cases within the manner which has been given to CBI by the Supreme. Our job is to investigate and submit a report to the court, that we will do to the satisfaction of the court,” Sinha said. The multi-crore rupee professional examination scam involves several high-profile professionals, politicians, and bureaucrats as accused. The alleged scam involves MPPEB, which holds examinations for various posts such as that of teachers, medical officers, constables, and forest guards.
The entire issue has become politically sensitive and is likely to disturb the Monsoon session of the Parliament. The principal Opposition Congress has alleged that around 49 persons linked to the Vyapam scam have died under mysterious circumstances, a charge refuted by the state government. The official figure is around 25 which the State Government says includes suicides, accidents, and some other unnatural deaths.