Vyapam Scam: Deaths of 25 accused ‘natural’, claims cornered Shivraj Singh Chouhan government

The Special Task Force probing the scam had submitted details of 23 unnatural deaths to the high court through the Special Investigation Team. The court, which is monitoring the investigation and seeks periodical status reports from the SIT, was yet to take a call on ordering a separate probe in these cases when Narendra Tomar, an accused, became the 24th death in Indore on Saturday, followed by a 25th in Gwalior on Sunday.

[related-post]

Activists have alleged that the deaths were suspicious because most of the victims were young and that their death broke the chain that could have led to the more powerful accused.

The focus in the multi-layered scam that involves rigged examinations and recruitment tests shifted to unnatural deaths when MP governor Ramnaresh Yadav’s son Shailesh Yadav was found dead in Lucknow in March this year. Shailesh was wanted after an accused alleged that he had been paid money in Bhopal’s Raj Bhavan. The governor was himself made an accused before the high court came to his rescue saying he enjoyed constitutional immunity.

The government said that out of the 25 deaths as many as 11 were reported before July 7, 2013 when the first FIR was registered in Indore. Out of the 2,500 accused 2,000 have been arrested so far.

Out of the 14 deaths reported after July 2013, six have died in road mishaps, two committed suicide and six died of various illnesses. Moreover, four accused died outside Madhya Pradesh and their deaths were duly investigated by the police of respective states and no conspiracy has been found till date.

THE GOVT’S ACCOUNT

Ashutosh Tiwari, August 10, 2010. A student of Government Medical college, Gwalior, died after drinking excess alcohol. Identified as “racketeer” against whom cases were registered in Rewa, Jabalpur and Bhopal.

Anand Singh Yadav, October 9, 2013. A resident of Darikhurd in Fetehpur, Uttar Pradesh, faced five cases in Jabalpur, Bhopal, Sagar (two cases) and Gwalior. This “racketeer” died in a road accident; family did not allege foul play.

Narendra Rajput, July 13, 2014. Resident of Mahobgarh in UP. Reason of death not clear but his wife said he had chest pain. Case registered in Mahobkanth PS in Mahoba, UP.

Ravendra Prakash Singh, June 15, 2104. Resident of Singrauli in Madhya Pradesh, allegedly committed suicide by consuming poison at his home in Bhopal. Family did not raise an issue.

Dinesh Jatav, February 14, 2014. Resident of Devgarh in Morena district (MP) died in a road accident. Family did not allege foul play. In the ‘cause of death’ column, however, the death of this “racketeer” has been attributed to “due to illness”.

Banti Sikarwar, January 24, 2014. Resident of Gwalior allegedly hanged himself. FIR lodged in the Gola Ka Mandir PS in Gwalior. Family did not accuse anybody.

Tarun Machhar, September 15, 2013. Resident of Amlipada village in Ratlam died in road accident in Bhopal. The student’s father told the police that he died in a road mishap. There is no mention of an FIR.

Devendra Nagar, December 26, 2013. Resident of Birkhedi village in Bhind district, found dead in a road mishap. The 29-year-old was working in Idea company in Gwalior. A case was registered in Ater PS, Bhind.
Deepak Jain, February 1, 2014. Resident of Karera in Shivpuri district died in a road mishap. Case registered in Bahodapur police station in Gwalior.

Shailesh Yadav (son of Governor Ramnaresh Yadav), March 26, 2015. Quoting news reports, the cause of death has been shown as heart attack/brain hemorrhage.

Vijay Singh Patel, April 28, 2015. From Chaukhada in Rewa, was found dead in a lodge in Kanker (Chhattisgarh). A case has been registered in Kanker Police Station. Contrary to what the police claim, his family members have alleged foul play.

Vikas Pande, April 29, 2014. Resident of Allahabad died of brain hemorrhage. The fact sheet identifies him as a racketeer but does not give the place where he died.

Rajendra Arya, June 28, 2015. A 39-year-old resident of Thatipur in Bhind district, he died of liver infection when he was being treated at the government hospital, Gwalior. He was arrested on May 13, 2014, and was out on bail.

Narendra Singh Tomar, June 28, 2015. A resident of Porsa in Morena, he was arrested on February 17, 2015 and died at M Y Hospital in Indore. He was kept in Indore district jail.

Anuj Uikey, Anshul Sachan, Shyamveer Yadav, June 14, 2010. Ages 22, 24 and 22, residents respectively of Maharajpur, Mandla (MP), Hoshangabad, and and Murar in Gwalior, died together in a road mishap. The case was registered at Umraoganj PS in Raisen district. All three are identified as racketeers but there is no explanation about how accused who belonged to three districts were travelling together.

Gyan Singh, October 26, 2010. Resident of Ruri village of Bhind district was a student of Government Medical College, Gwalior. Faced eight cases and was found dead, “excessive consumption of liquor damaged his liver”.

Aditya Chaudhary alias Ravi Pippal, September 25, 2102. Allegedly hanged himself at his home in Sagar. Family did not allege any foul play.

Anantram Angor, November 7, 2101. Resident of Uttarpura in Morena district, died of cancer. The alleged racketeer faced one case in Gadha Police Station.

Arvind Shakya, November 28, 2012. Student of Jabalpur Medical College, allegedly pushed out of a running bus. He was going with his friends when the group had a fight with the bus conductor over payment of money. The family expressed no suspicions.

Vikas Singh, November 21, 2009. Resident of Badwani, faced three cases in Gwalior, Sagar and Jabalpur. He consumed alcohol and took aspirin tablets that caused his death. Case registered in Kishanganj Police Station, Indore.

Kuldeep Marawi, May 12, 2013. Student of Government Medical College in Mandla, died in road accident. The sheet does not mention place of death and says family does not doubt the death.

Premlata Pandey, May 17, 2013. Resident of Nehrunagar, Bhopal, died of liver cancer. A student, she faced one case in Bhopal.

Rinku alias Pramod Sharma, April 21, 2013. A resident of Ambah in Morena district, he hanged himself. A case registered in Seepari Bazar Police Station in Jhansi (UP).
Activist notes ‘omissions’

Indore-based activist Anand Rai said the list issued by the government had omitted two glaring cases of unnatural deaths. One example he cited is Namrata Damor, a student of the 2011 batch in Indore medical college was found dead near railway tracks in 2012. Her name was mentioned in the list of students who used unfair means. Vishal Varma, a “racketeer”, was travelling with her before she was reported missing was let off after questioning by the police. He is now wanted for rigging PMT in 2009.

The other death Rai cited was of Deepak Varma, a student of Indore medical college, who died in a road mishap in 2010. Pritam Baghel, who was arrested for arranging solvers later, had named Deepak.

A court order mentions Deepak Varma, Rai said.