Vyapam: ED files first charge sheet under PMLA

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) today filed a charge sheet in the Vyapam scam case of Madhya Pradesh and charged alleged mastermind Dr Jagdish Sagar and others under the anti-money laundering law, the agency said.

It said apart from Sagar, Dr Vinod Bhandari, ex-chairman of Sri Aurobindo Institute of Medical Sciences (SAIMS), and others have been named as accused in the prosecution complaint filed before a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court here.

This is ED's first charge sheet in this case and a supplementary compliant could be filed in future as investigation is continuing, a senior official said.

The central probe agency's zonal office here had registered a criminal FIR in March 2014 to probe alleged financial irregularities and laundering instances in the Madhya Pradesh Professional Examination Board scam, also called Vyapam in Hindi, pertaining to admission of candidates and students in professional courses and state services in alleged connivance with officials and politicians.

The agency had named former state Higher Education Minister Laxmikant Sharma and 27 others in its FIR registered after taking cognisance of a clutch of FIRs of the Special Task Force of the state.

It has attached assets worth Rs 13.95 crore in this case till now. The CBI is also probing the case.