 "Vyapam scam: Supreme Court hands over case to CBI")
The Supreme Court on Thursday handed over the investigation of the Vyapam scam to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)
The apex court has sought the agency's response by July 24. The CBI will start its probe Monday.
The Supreme Court on Thursday began hearing petitions filed by Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh and others for a CBI probe into the Vyapam scam.
Read more from our special coverage on "VYAPAM SCAM"
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- SC to take up CBI probe plea in Vyapam case today
- Vyapam scam: MP HC refuses plea seeking CBI probe, says matter under SC
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The bench, headed by Chief Justice H L Dattu, had on Tuesday agreed to give the matter an urgent hearing and posted the matter for today.
According to some reports, as many as 46 people associated with the scam as accused or witnesses have died under mysterious circumstances. There have been at least four deaths in the past 10 days alone, including of Akshay Singh, a reporter for the Aaj Tak television channel. Singh died shortly after interviewing the parents of Namrata Damor, a 19-year-old who was found dead on the railways tracks; she was said to be involved in the scam.
An NDTV report on Wednesday said the original post-mortem report on Damor had pointed to homicide by violent asphyxia; however, the police team investigating her murder later disregarded the autopsy report, and instead closed the case as being a suicide.
A day after Singh's death, the dean of a Jabalpur medical college who had been cooperating with a Special Investigative Team ordered by the High Court, was found dead in a Delhi hotel, also under mysterious circumstances. A female trainee sub-inspector and a constable with the state police have also been found dead in the past three days.
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan had come under considerable flak for sidestepping demands for an inquiry into the expanding scam by the country's premier investigative agency. He had, instead, defended himself saying that the could not possible overstep the brief by the High Court, which had ordered a special task force to look into the scandal that allegedly involved bureaucrats, politicians, touts and impersonators who offered government jobs and admissions to professional colleges in returns for money.
A common modus operandi involved getting people to impersonate examinees and take the entrance exams in their stead.
An NDTV report on Wednesday said the original post-mortem report on Damor had pointed to homicide by violent asphyxia; however, the police team investigating her murder later disregarded the autopsy report, and instead closed the case as being a suicide.
A day after Singh's death, the dean of a Jabalpur medical college who had been cooperating with a Special Investigative Team ordered by the High Court, was found dead in a Delhi hotel, also under mysterious circumstances. A female trainee sub-inspector and a constable with the state police have also been found dead in the past three days.
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan had come under considerable flak for sidestepping demands for an inquiry into the expanding scam by the country's premier investigative agency. He had, instead, defended himself saying that the could not possible overstep the brief by the High Court, which had ordered a special task force to look into the scandal that allegedly involved bureaucrats, politicians, touts and impersonators who offered government jobs and admissions to professional colleges in returns for money.
A common modus operandi involved getting people to impersonate examinees and take the entrance exams in their stead.