Vyapam scam: Two get five years in jail for impersonation

Devendra Omprakash Kaushik, a resident of Murar locality in Gwalior, and Arun Kumar alias Amlendu Kumar Bigu Mehto, a resident of Sitamarhi district of Bihar who impersonated him, were out on bail. Amlendu was caught from the examination centre in Khandwa on June 11, 2004 when a government official became suspicious. Upon questioning, the police were led to Devendra and Vinay Mahendra Prasad, a resident of Muzaffarpur, Bihar, who was the alleged middleman.

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The Moghat Road Police Station had registered a case (244/04) under IPC Sections 419, 420, 467, 468 and 120 (B) that deal with cheating, forgery and criminal conspiracy. Vinay was acquitted for lack of evidence.

Additional Sessions Judge Prakash Chandra slapped a fine of Rs 4,500 on Amlendu and Rs 2,500 on Devendra.

In another case, the judge acquitted all three accused because the police could not produce a crucial report by a handwriting expert. Manish Indradev Prasad, a resident of Sultanganj, Bihar, Tarun Nandlal Yadav, a resident of Saharsa, Bihar, and Santkumar Mevaram Trivedia, a resident of Bhind, were accused in the second case.

The Khandwa police had registered seven FIRs against 21 persons, including impersonators and students, after they found irregularities in DC Girls College and SN College, the two examination centres.

After the PMT scam was unearthed, activists had pointed out that racketeers had been operating since a long time. The details of cases filed since 2004 were submitted in the assembly and later in the High Court. Activists had argued that trials in the previous cases across Madhya Pradesh dragged on for years which emboldened racketeers.