Vyapam scam: CBI to file fresh charges against 4

The CBI, investigating the multi-crore Vyapam scam in Madhya Pradesh, will soon file fresh chargesheets against four senior officials of the Madhya Pradesh Professional Examination Board (MPPEB). The agency, sources said, is likely to file its chargesheets against four officials of the MPPEB, popularly known as Vyapam, for their alleged role in the irregularities committed in Pre-Medical Tests (PMT) 2011-12.

“The CBI has almost concluded its investigations into the alleged irregularities committed in the Pre-Medical Tests (PMT) 2011-12 and the police constable recruitment exams (2012) conducted by Vyapam. The CBI had registered several cases to probe the allegations of cheating by impersonation in these two exams,” sources said. The agency may file fresh chargesheets against four senior officials of Vyapam, they added.

“Investigations by the CBI have revealed that several candidates allegedly took the assistance of impersonators in the written examination for medical and several other courses conducted by Vyapam with the help of middlemen,” sources said. The agency had recently filed a chargesheet against a candidate and a middleman for allegedly helping students get admission to MBBS course.

Vyapam is a government body responsible for conducting several entrance tests in Madhya Pradesh. It recruits for government jobs and admissions to educational institutes. Vyapam scam is allegedly a well orchestrated rigging of entrance exams to help undeserving candidates, who allegedly bribed politicians and officials through middlemen, to get high ranks in these entrance tests. The Vyapam scam dates back to 2004. More than 2000 people have so far been arrested in connection with the scam, including the State’s former education minister Laxmikant Sharma, over a hundred politicians, several Vyapam officials, bureaucrats, middlemen, students and their parents. So far 44 people related to the Vyapam scam have turned up dead.