Addressing the media, Chouhan said, "My mind is full of agony and pain. Yesterday, a sad incident took place, where the journalist, Akshay ji, suddenly fell ill and was rushed to hospital but unfortunately passed away. We give our condolences to his family and assure them that the state government is with them in this time of grief.”.
The Madhya Pradesh government is writing to the high court-constituted SIT probing the Vyapam recruitment scam to thoroughly investigate the death of TV scribe Akshay Singh, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said on Sunday, a day after he died under mysterious circumstances.
Addressing the media, Chouhan said, "My mind is full of agony and pain. Yesterday, a sad incident took place, where the journalist, Akshay ji, suddenly fell ill and was rushed to hospital but unfortunately passed away. We give our condolences to his family and assure them that the state government is with them in this time of grief.”.
Chouhan said that the state government had no role in the investigation in the Vyapam scam that has seen a number of deaths of accused/witnesses and those associated with it, since the high court was monitoring the probe being carried out by the SIT constituted by it.
"The high court is monitoring the probe through the SIT constituted by it. The high court has said the probe is carrying on fine under its monitoring and there is no need for a CBI probe.
"The moment the high court decided to monitor it, that very day the state government's role ended in the scam. When the probe is being carried out under court monitoring, the state government cannot be above the court or the Supreme Court," he said.
Meanwhile, Akshay Singh's body was cremated at the Nigambodh Ghat.
Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and Delhi Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Satish Upadhyay were among those present during the cremation.
The Congress Party demanded a CBI probe into the Vyapam scam following the death of Akshay Singh and described the attack on media personnel as an attack on democracy.
“It is a very sad incident. We offer condolences to the journalist’s family. It is sad that deaths of journalists are taking place, whether it is Uttar Pradesh or Madhya Pradesh. A thorough investigation should be carried out and Congress will support it. Journalists and media are an important part of democracy, and attack on them is an attack on democracy,” Congress leader RPN Singh told media persons
Also read: Everything you need to know about the Vyapam scam
“Many deaths have taken place in connection with the Vyapam scam and it remains to be seen till when the state government and Centre will wake up ….There is a simple solution to this, the state government just has to write to the Centre demanding a CBI inquiry,” he added.
“Our heart reaches out to family of the journalist who has become the 44th victim of suspected death in the Vyapam scam of Madhya Pradesh. We are not pointing fingers in this point of death, but we are raising serious concerns,” said Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala.
A day ago, Dr. Ashok Bachani of Dahod Civil Hospital said that the post-mortem report of Singh does not show any foul play.
"The post-mortem does not show any foul play. No external wounds were found in the body," Dr. Bachani said. "To determine the reason behind death, we have sent viscera for histopathology and forensic analysis. After reports come in, we'll be able to give the reason behind his death," he added.
Senior advocate Abha Singh urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to look into the investigation of the Vyapam scam following the death of journalist Akshay Singh.
“Prime Minister Modi should now pay attention to the scam and investigation should be completed as soon as possible so that no more innocents are killed…The death of the journalist in suspicious circumstances needs immediate investigation,” Singh told ANI.
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