MPPEB scam takes dark turn: 40 accused have died under 'mysterious circumstances' in 3 years

The probe into the infamous Madhya Pradesh Professional Examination Board (MPPEB) scam has taken a dark and sinister turn as it was found that at least 40 people linked to the scam have died under mysterious circumstances over the last three years. [caption id=“attachment_2267380” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters[/caption] A report submitted by the Special Investigative Team (SIT) probing the MPPEB scam, also called the Vyapam scam, revealed that apart from the eight accused who were known to have died, 32 others, all between 25 and 30 years of age, died under mysterious circumstances since the investigation began in 2012, according to The Times of India. “The deaths have snapped crucial linkages to kingpins, making it India’s most notorious scam where so many ‘wanted’ people have been killed and their secrets entombed forever,” said the report. On 28 April, a key accused in the MPPEB scam had been found dead under mysterious circumstances at a lodge in Chhattisgarh’s Kanker district. The body of Vijay Singh, a resident of Rewa in Madhya Pradesh and posted as pharmacist at Shajapur District Jail, had been found by the police. Singh had been under suspension after the Special Task Force (STF) probing the case arrested him in three cases related the MPPEB scam. Singh had been later cleared in one case. He had been released on bail in February this year and summoned by STF on 17 April. With Singh’s death, the number of accused in the MPPEB scam found dead under mysterious circumstances had risen to eight by the time his death came to light on 8 May. Singh’s brother had demanded a probe into the mysterious death of his brother. “Vijay Singh’s body was found at a local lodge in Kanker on 28 April. No poisonous substance was found inside the room, leading to suspicion that it was a mysterious death,” his brother Abhay Singh, a government school teacher, had told PTI. Another person accused in the scam who had been found dead under mysterious circumstances was Madhya Pradesh Governor Ram Naresh Yadav’s son Shailesh, who had been found dead at his father’s official residence in Lucknow on 25 March. Shailesh’s name had cropped up in the multi-crore scam for allegedly fixing the recruitment of 10 candidates as Grade III teachers. (With inputs from PTI)