A macabre scam in MP

The VYAPAM scam in BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh which came into the limelight thus, did not just confine itself to the impostors arrested, but began engulfing several others soon. In no time it was established by the investigating agencies that the PEB itself was the vortex of it. While this was on, one by one, those either accused or stood witness, began to perish from known and unknown causes. The Opposition alleges that in all 41 persons thus have died so far, while the government records only 25 or so in the last five years

Dance macabre or The Dance of Death, in art and literature, depicts a procession or dance in which the dead always lead the living to the grave. A reminder of mortality, of the ubiquity of death and the equality of all men in that state. There is also an order to it, with some kind of precedence given to those getting to the graves, ahead of others.

How many times do we see it in real life? Right in our midst, in Madhya Pradesh, the VYAPAM scam accused and witnesses are marching towards their graves mysteriously. Just a week ago, the Special Task Force investigating these deaths had submitted to the High Court that at least 23 deaths related to the scam were inexplicable.

For records sake, PEB - Madhya Pradesh Vyavasayik Pareeksha Mandal - is VYAPAM. This is a self-financed body created by the State Government in 1970 as a Pre-Medical Test board to conduct entrance tests for medical courses. Eleven years later, in 1981, a Pre-Engineering Board was also set up and a year later, both these were merged to create an autonomous body called Professional Examination Board (PEB).

In 2013, when the police got a tip-off that some strangers had arrived in Indore and checked into a hotel ahead of a Pre-Medical entrance Test (PMT) scheduled for July 7 of the year, it raided the hotel and arrested seven persons from Uttar Pradesh. Further Investigations stunned the people of Madhya Pradesh. The VYAPAM scam which came into the limelight thus, did not just confine itself to the impostors arrested, but began engulfing several others soon.

In no time it was established by the investigating agencies that the PEB itself was the vortex of it. Middlemen ensured that no one needed to write any exam. Their filled-in application forms were tampered with and the photographs of impersonators pasted on it. After the examination, the original photos would be replaced by those writing the examinations.

Another way of doing it was planting a hired hand in the midst of students and facilitate their copying from his answer sheets. A third way was to ask the students leave the answer sheets blank but award them high percentages. Later, an RTI application would be filed seeking the answer sheets only to get filled up appropriately to avoid any detection.

In no time, the world came to know that nearly 3,000 people, including highly placed officials, insiders, outsiders, leaders and respectable professionals were involved in the scam. The State government ordered a probe and got about 1,900 people arrested while 500 are still absconding. While this was on, one by one, those either accused or stood witness, began to perish from known and unknown causes.

The Opposition alleges that in all 41 persons thus have died so far, while the government records only 25 or so in the last five years. The government denied any wrong doing on its part, but the High Court-ordered Special Investigation Team is yet to make a breakthrough or come out with some logical answers to the deaths at least.

When the last weekend, two accused died – Narendra Singh Tomar (29), a veterinary doctor died in Indore Jail on Saturday and Dr Rajendra Arya (40), who was out on bail, died due to an infection – it strengthened the suspicion that this is a dance of death. Tomar was said to have died of a cardiac arrest. He was accused of arranging impostors to write the Pre-Medical Examinations on behalf of the students.

"The deaths of the people linked to the VYAPAM scam are natural...there is no foul play behind it as alleged by the Congress", declared the MP Home Minister Babulal Gaur in response to the attack of the Congress leaders. He also ruled out a CBI probe and added "even the Supreme Court has turned down the Congress plea."

The victims kin as well as public in general, suspect foul play and whispers of the involvement of the "rich and powerful and also in position" are continuing to make rounds. Former Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia of the Congress and his party veteran, Digvijay Singh, continued to demand Chief Minister, Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s resignation.

Naturally, the families of dead are a worried lot. Their worry is justified as the mega-scam involves politicians and senior officials. The rumours about the scam have been making rounds since 2009 but, it was in 2013, that the scam was unearthed. Dr Jagdish Sagar who was said to be a kingpin in this scam was arrested along with a former Education Minister, Laxmikant Sharma, and PEB Exam Controller Pankaj Trivedi and Chief System Analysts of the Board, Nitin Mahendra and Ajay Sen, and the State Pre-Medical Test's examination in-charge C K Mishra.

This scale of involvement of the top guns was never seen in the history of the State. The Enforcement Directorate too stepped in to book Pankaj Trivedi, Laxmikanth Sharma and his OSD, O P Shukla along with 25 others under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. In all, 720 parents and students have also been booked and more than 129 politicians, officials and middlemen were arrested.

The board had become a money-churning proposition when it was also entrusted with job recruitment profile. With such power centralized in the hands of the few, it was easier for the touts to penetrate the system and trap the others. Thousands of seats and jobs only meant that VYAPAM was dealing with an irresistible lucre of voluminous offerings.

The scam as well its history was dug up by Dr Anand Rai, an Indore based Ophthalmologist who had earlier exposed fraudulent methods adopted by MP clinics in trials. The first of these all surfaced in Khandwa city, just across Indore. Such was the arrogance of Pankaj Trivedi that when the police brought the scam to his notice, he endorsed the illegal students' enrollment in the colleges.

Soon it became too hot for the government to handle the same. Adding to the woes of Shivraj Chouhan, a Special Task Force of the MP police unearthed five more recruitment scams involving government jobs. Among those against whom FIRs' were issued included one Sudhir Sharma, a mining baron and a close confidante of the Chief Minister, Shivraj Chouhan. He was also under the CBI scanner earlier in connection with a mining scam.

It is another issue that VYAPAM later admitted in the court that more than 1,000 applications forms had been missing and answer sheets of a 1,000 more too had gone missing. The Task Force would go ahead and pin-point 3,292 offences with the help of 92,176 documents at that point. But, what turned the whole affair murkier, is the death of at least 41 of those connected with the case under mysterious circumstances in the last five years.

The most high-profile death was that of Shailesh Yadav, son of Madhya Pradesh Governor Ram Naresh Yadav. Shailesh, 50, was found dead at his father's residence in Mall Avenue area of Uttar Pradesh capital Lucknow on March 25 this year. Ram Yadav himself was earlier an accused in the case. Is death being encouraged to travel to the addresses of some of the involved? Who is leading them to their graves?