CBI files chargesheet against 95 in Vyapam scam

The CBI on Tuesday said it has filed a chargesheet against 95 people in the multi-crore-rupee Vyapam examination scam linked with the 2011 Pre Medical Test (PMT) case.

Those named in the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) chargesheet include 83 candidates, four Vyapam officials and eight middlemen in a case relating to irregularities in Samvida Shala Shikshak Patrata Pariksha Varg-3 Examination in 2011 conducted by Vyapam.

The scam in Vyavsayik Pariksha Mandal (Vyapam) or Madhya Pradesh Professional Examination Board broke out in 2013 wherein candidates bribed officials and rigged exams by deploying imposters to write their papers.

The scam, which began in 1995, involves politicians, senior officials and businessmen.

The CBI took over investigation following a Supreme Court order on July 9, 2015. The chargesheet was connected to the Pre-Medical Test of 2011 -- one of several cases of irregularities in examinations conducted by Vyapam.

According to the CBI chargesheet, files from the hard disk of the computer of then Principal System Analyst Vyapam reveal that marks of certain candidates were allegedly increased to enable them to qualify the test.

"The same were verified with the OMR answer sheets of the candidates and it was found that marks of 84 candidates were increased, in the final result, to make them qualify the examination," it said.

One candidate is on the run and investigation is on in his case.

"Investigation further revealed that the accused public servants and other private persons collected the examination details viz roll number, form number of the candidates and provided the same to then Principal System Analyst, Vyapam," it said.

The Special Task Force, which was probing the case earlier, filed four chargesheets in the case.

The agency also said the examination details so received by said Principal System Analyst were entered into a digital file on the computer which contained the details of the candidates along with their names or roll numbers and the name of the middlemen who had sponsored the candidates.

"Just prior to the declaration of the result, the said Principal System Analyst created another database in respect of the candidates whose marks were intended to be increased," it said.

It was also alleged that in the result data base, he increased the marks as per the requirement of the candidates so as to make them qualify the examination and thereafter the actual marks obtained by the 84 accused were deleted from the result file, the agency said.

"However, no change in the OMR answer sheets could be made and thus the original marks obtained by the accused, as per the OMR sheets, were less than the marks declared in the result," it added.

In November last year, the agency has filed chargesheet against 592 persons in the scam linked with 2012 PMT case.

Of the total persons named in the chargesheet filed in a Bhopal court, 245 are new while remaining 347 are those who have already been named as accused in the CBI's October 31 Vyapam chargesheet on the probe related to the 2013 PMT case.

Over 40 persons, including witnesses, accused, and alleged beneficiaries, died in mysterious circumstances ever since the scam broke out. These included son of the then Governor Ram Naresh Yadav. Some died in freak accidents or of mysterious illnesses.

The opposition Congress has repeatedly blamed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government led by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan for the deaths, which it alleged is a cover-up for the racket. Chouhan and the BJP have denied the charges.

--IANS

aks/him/dg