Vyapam deaths continue

than 24 hours after the mysterious death of a journalist investigating the Madhya Pradesh Professional Examinations Board (MPPEB aka Vyapam) scam, Dr Arun Sharma, the dean of a Jabalpur medical college who was involved in the probe into the politically sensitive case, was found dead under suspicious circumstances in a Delhi hotel on Sunday morning.
Coming hours after the death of TV journalist Akshay Singh, who died just after interviewing the family of a scam accused who had died three years ago, Sharma's demise thickened the air of conspiracy around the probe, and is likely to lead the beleaguered Shivraj Singh Chouhan-led BJP government to offer a CBI probe if asked by the SC.
With the opposition pouncing upon the rising death toll of those linked to the admission racket, Chouhan readily agreed to the demand of Singh's family for his viscera to be examined outside MP. Sharma, who was heading a team constituted by the Madhya Pradesh government to assist the probe into the Vyapam scam, was supposed to take a flight to Agartala at 6.10 am and had asked the hotel staff to give him a wake-up call at 4.30 am. When he did not open the door, the police was informed at 6 am.
Sharma, 64, was found lying on his bed and was rushed to Deendayal Upadhyay Hospital where doctors pronounced him “brought dead“. A near-empty bottle of liquor and some pills, said to be related to diabetes, were found in the room. He became the 46th person related to the Vyapam scam to be found dead.
While the result of the autopsy will shed light on the probable cause of the sudden demise, the back-to-back deaths of Sharma and Akshay Singh have put the Chouhan government under pressure, while giving the opposition an opening to target the BJP. The opposition demanded a CBI probe into the deaths of Singh and Sharma, while Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal attended the journalist's cremation in Delhi.
The timing of the mysterious deaths could not have been worse. They coincide with the attack on the Modi government over the Lalit Modi scam, and can be handy for the opposition to question Prime Minister Narendra Modi's achievement in ensuring a scam-free year at the Centre.
With Rajasthan CM Vasundhara Raje under fire over her links with Lalit Modi, the adverse spotlight on Chouhan can help Congress assault the peripheries before it gets ready for an attack on the Centre.
Akshay Singh suffered a heart attack while he was interviewing the family of scam accused Namrata Singh Damor, who died three years ago. The Jabalpur branch of Indian Medical Association (IMA) cried foul and demanded a CBI probe into Sharma's death, saying he was in the know of the conspiracy behind the suspicious death of his close friend and predecessor at the Netaji Subhas Bose Medical College, Dr D K Sakalle. Like Sharma, Sakalle too was in the committee probing the multi-layered admission scam.
Both Sharma and Sakalle were heading the photo mismatch and document verification committee investigating the credential of students suspected of having used unfair means for clearing the PMT and pre-PG exams conducted by Vyapam. Several admissions were terminated for using unfair means during the joint investigation by the duo.
President of IMA's Jabalpur branch Dr Sudhir Tiwari said two days ago that Sharma had handed over a 200-page file with incriminating documents on the Vyapam scam to police officers.
Sharma took charge as dean on June 1. Earlier, he was head of radiology department in the same college. “Dr Sakalle died on July 4, 2014. Is it mere coincidence that Dr Sharma also passed away on July 4 this year,“ Tiwari asked. On Thursday , Dr Tiwari alleged that former dean Dr D K Sakalle, who was in the investigating committee probing the multi-layered scam, was murdered with `Chinese laser weapon' a year ago.