CBI arrests one in Vyapam scam

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Sunday arrested Indore's Arun Arora in connection with the Vyapam scam.

The Vyapam scam is an admission and recruitment fraudulent scheme, beginning in 1995, involving politicians, senior officials and businessmen in Madhya Pradesh Professional Examination Board (MPPEB).

Arora was the then chairman of admission committee at Index Medical College (IMC).

In the hearing that began at 3 pm on November 23 and continued till 2:41 am, the CBI Special Court issued arrest warrant against 592 accused persons in connection with the scam, granted bail to 15 accused who appeared before the court on Rs 1 lakh bond, and rejected 30 interim bail plea applications.

Earlier on October 31, the agency had filed chargesheet against 490 accused in a case relating to alleged irregularities in PMT-2013 Examination conducted by Vyapam, the Madhya Pradesh Professional Examination Board.

A CBI investigation discovered that some racketeers, along with their accomplices, allegedly arranged solvers for beneficiary candidates in the said examination.

The pairing of respective solvers-beneficiaries was being done by the racketeers by getting the roll numbers of these solvers-beneficiary candidates manipulated through Vyapam officials, such that a beneficiary candidate was seated right behind his solver.

This enabled the beneficiary to cheat and copy the answers from solver.

It was further alleged that after the PMT 2012 results were declared, solver candidates were encouraged by the middlemen/ racketeer in conspiracy with the accused officials of the four Private Medical Colleges to opt for these four colleges during the counseling for PMT 2012.

It was also alleged that after allotment of the MBBS seat from state quota in the four Private Medical Colleges, these solver candidates did not take actual admission in these colleges.

The college administration and the college admission committee of these four Private Medical Colleges allegedly gave false information that these students had taken admission in the college.

This was done to block the state quota seats so that further counselling of successful candidates, who were next in the waiting list, was not done.