29.6.15

Vyapam Mystery Deaths continue


Investigations into the multi-crore Madhya Pradesh Professional Examination Board (MPPEB) scam turned murkier, recording an appalling 43rd death on Sunday , with two more accused dying in the last 24 hours -one of them under suspicious circumstances.
The MP government has admitted in court to 23 deaths so far, but independent media reports have fixed 43 scam-related deaths so far. Veterinary officer Narendra Tomar, 30, was found dead in the high-security Indore district jail, allegedly after a heart attack. Hours later, Dr Rajendra Arya, 45, who was charged with rigging admissions of two candidates in the 2008 pre-med test, died at Birla Hospital in Gwalior of liver infection.
Tomar's family members said he hadn't complained of ill-health and had in fact spoken about torture on Saturday afternoon when they last met him. They demanded a judicial probe into his death.
The last death before Sunday's was on April 28 of Vijay Singh Patel, 39, of Rewa, who was found dead at a BJP functionary's house in Kanker, Chhattisgarh. Patel was an accused in three cases in the scam. Arya was assistant professor, Government Medical College, Sagar, and was on bail. His family said he was tremendously stressed ever since he was booked in the scam.
The most high-profile death so far has been of Shailesh Yadav, son of Madhya Pradesh governor Ram Naresh Yadav. Shailesh, 50, was found dead at his father's Mall Avenue home in Lucknow on March 25.
Tomar, of Morena, was assistant veterinary officer in Raisen district.
`Terribly stressed', Tomar was arrested by the Madhya Pradesh STF three months ago. He was accused of arranging scorers or impersonators in examination halls and brought to Indore jail on February 24.
Prison officials said Tomar's health began slipping at 11 pm Saturday , and he was rushed to state-run MY Hospital. Jail superintendent, RC Bhati said, “We called medical officer on duty for primary treatment. His blood pressure was normal. When he complained of anxiety again on Sunday , we rushed him to MY Hospital. He suffered a heart attack during medical invest gation and died on way to ICU.“
Bhati denied Tomar was tortured in jail or had fought with inmates. He said, “He was a humble man and had no fights. He may have been stressed.“
But Tomar's family members raised questions. “I suspect my brother met the fate of other accused. He was falsely implicated by STF and arrested without evidence. He was innocent. On Saturday evening, he told us that cops are harassing him and spoke about torture in prison,“ said his brother, Vikram Singh Tomar.
Tomar's colleague, Hemant Kaushal, said, “We spoke to doctors and they said Tomar was brought on Saturday morning and taken back to jail a few hours later. If he was unwell, why did jail authorities return him to jail? On Sunday , hospital authorities said he was brought dead and family members were not informed till he died.“
Tomar's body has been sent for autopsy . At complete odds with Tomar's family members' version, hospital superintendent, Dr AD Bhatnagar, said, “He was admitted in the hospital following recurring chest pain.“

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