Vyapam case: CBI court in Gwalior sentences six convicts to 5 yrs in jail

A special CBI court has sentenced six convicts, including impersonators, candidates and middlemen, to five years in jail in connection with the Vyapam case.

The special judge for Vyapam cases in Gwalior sentenced Pervez Khan alias Pervez Alam and Pradeep Upadhyay (impersonators), Rajesh Baghel and Awadhesh Kumar (candidates) and Hari Narain Singh and Ved Ratan Singh (middlemen) to five years of rigorous imprisonment.

The court also imposed a fine of Rs 3,700 each on the convicts in the case related to the Pre Medical Test-2010 (PMT-2010) conducted by the Madhya Pradesh Professional Examination Board, popularly known as Vyapam.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had registered the case in December, 2015 and taken over the the probe.

 

Upadhyay and Khan appeared in place of original candidates Kumar and Baghel respectively in the PMT examination held on June 20, 2010 in Guna and were caught by the invigilators.

The CBI probe revealed that Baghel and Kumar applied for PMT-2010 in the offline mode through middleman Hari Narain Singh, giving a common address to facilitate the delivery of the test admit card (TAC).

The CBI traced Khan and arrested him in February 2017.

He was examined and his specimen signature, handwriting and thumb impression as well as the specimen signature, handwriting and thumb impression of Upadhyay were obtained and sent to the Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) for an expert opinion.

It was found that candidates Baghel and Kumar did not appear in the examination, rather the handwriting and thumb impression of the impersonators were found on the answer-sheets.

During investigation, Hari Narain Singh and Ved Ratan Singh (both middlemen) were also examined.

After the conclusion of the investigation, a supplementary chargesheet was filed in August, 2017, after which the trial court found the accused guilty and convicted them.