College dean helping Vyapam probe found dead in Delhi

Arun Sharma, the dean of a medical college in Madhya Pradesh assisting the police probing the Vyapam scam, was on Sunday found dead in a hotel room here, police said.

His body was found at Uppal Hotel near the Indira Gandhi International Airport. He was on his way to Tripura as a member of an inspection team of the Medical Council of India.

Sharma, 64, whose college is in Jabalpur, was assisting the Special Task Force probing the recruitment scam in the Madhya Pradesh Vyavsayik Pareeksha Mandal (Vyapam) by providing documents on fake medical entrance examinees in the state-run college, police said.

Delhi Police declined to comment on Sharma's death. "We have contacted his son. He said his father was a sugar patient. The family is on its way to Delhi," said Deputy Commissioner of Police R.A. Sanjeev.

The officer said the victim checked into Uppal Hotel Saturday evening and wanted to be waken up on Sunday morning.

When he did not respond to the wake up calls, the hotel staff suspected something was wrong and called the police.

"The door to his suite was broken into in the presence of police. The dean was found on his bed," the officer said.

"Whiskey and some medicines were found near his bed. Nothing had been visibly disturbed in the room, and no external injuries were seen on his body," he added.

The body has been sent for autopsy. "We will await for the autopsy report before we can say what caused his death," said Sanjeev.

The admission and recruitment racket in the Madhya Pradesh Vyavsayik Pareeksha Mandal (Vyapam) or the Madhya Pradesh Professional Examination Board apparently involves politicians, officials and businessmen.

More than 40 people associated with the scam have died since 2013.

The most high-profile death was of Shailesh Yadav, son of Madhya Pradesh Governor Ram Naresh Yadav. Shailesh, 50, was found dead at his father's residence in the Uttar Pradesh capital Lucknow on March 25.