MP govt moves HC seeking CBI probe into Vyapam scam

Madhya Pradesh government today moved the state High Court seeking a CBI probe into the Vyapam scam and the plea may come up for hearing tomorrow.
"Yes, we have filed a request in the court of Chief Justice A M Khanwilkar for a CBI probe....The HC might hear our plea tomorrow," Additional Advocate General P Kaurav told PTI over phone from Jabalpur where the High Court is located.
He said the state government's plea says that following the "recent unfortunate incidents" related to Vyapam, the government wants a CBI probe.
The request states that MP police's Special Task Force, monitored by the Special Investigation Team headed by retired High Court judge Chandresh Bhushan (formed on the High Court's direction) was efficiently probing the scam.

But with "the recent unfortunate developments" and demand from certain quarters and to clear the air, the government was seeking a CBI probe, it says.
The Supreme Court had yesterday agreed to hear on July 9 the plea of Congress leader Digvijay Singh and three whistle-blowers -- Ashish Chaturvedi, Anand Rai and Prashant Pandey -- seeking a CBI probe into the scam.
Chouhan was under pressure from opposition, particularly Congress, to order a CBI probe following the death of Arun Sharma, the dean of a Jabalpur Medical College who was probing the scandal, on Sunday. Sharma's death came a day after Akshay Singh, a journalist of the TV Today group, doing stories on Vyapam scam trail, died minutes after he had interviewed the parents of a deceased accused.

At least five people associated with Vyapam, including Sharma and Singh, have died under mysterious circumstances in the last one week. The opposition claims that 45 people linked to the scandal in one or other way have died, though the official figure of "unnatural deaths" so far is 25.