Vyapam scam: CBI registers three fresh cases, terms Namrata Damor's death murder

Bhopal: Three fresh cases have been registered by CBI in connection with multi-crore rupee Vyapam scam, including that of “murder” in the mysterious death of MBBS student Namrata Damor in 2012, taking the total number of FIRs lodged by it to eight. While the Madhya Pradesh police had maintained that 19-year-old Damor, who was found dead in January, 2012, was suffering from depression and had committed suicide, two sets of doctors gave different opinions about her death, raising suspicion. [caption id=“attachment_2345560” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Image courtesy: News18[/caption] Damor, whose name figured in the Vyapam scam, was studying at the Government MGM Medical College in Indore and it was suspected that she took admission with the help of the accused in the Vyapam scam in 2010. A student in the second year of college, she went missing after the college declared its results on 7 January, 2012. Meanwhile, the police had found an unidentified, mutilated body along the railways tracks in Ujjain on the same day that she had gone missing. There were posters of her distributed but after no one claimed her body, it was cremated after an autopsy. Her brother saw one of the posters and identified her, after which her body was exhumed. There was never any clarity on whether it was a case of murder or suicide. The police claim to have even recreated the crime scene after the initial inquiry and said that Damor had died due to falling off a train. However, the post mortem report said that she had died because of “violent asphyxia as a result of smothering”, with the findings suggesting homicide. “We three doctors conducted the post-mortem… we have over 25 years of experience. There were bruises on the nose and mouth… which indicated she was strangled. Also, the bruises on her body suggested she was dragged on the tracks after her death,” Dr BB Purohit, who was part of the team that performed the autopsy, had said. However, the Madhya Pradesh Medico Legal Institute that handles forensic medicine had submitted a report saying that it was a case of suicide and rejected the others’ opinion. The semen samples found on Damor’s clothes didn’t match any of the four suspects in the case: Dev Sisodiya, Yash Deshwala, Vishal Verma and Alek. Her mobile phone was recovered from another passenger Shradha Kesharwani, who was also travelling on the train but she had no clue about Damor. The police had also claimed the girl was in a relationship with one of the suspects Vishal Verma, who had also benefited from the Vyapam scam in 2009 by using an impersonator. The police also claimed Verma had also allegedly helped Namrata for move from a Gwalior college to the MGM Medical College, but was unable to prove anything conclusively against him. The case was finally closed. A case under 302 (murder) of IPC was registered on Friday to probe her death. The second case relates to alleged illegalities in the Pre-Medical Test of 2010 and only one person has been named as an accused. The third case pertains to alleged irregularities during an examination conducted by Vyapam in 2010 in which the state police had named four accused. Seven more accused were included by the Special Task Force in this case. With this, the number of FIRs registered by CBI in connection with the massive rigging of examinations for recruitment in government jobs and admissions in educational institutions has gone up to eight. The CBI team, which has been camping in Bhopal for the last five days, had registered five cases in connection with the alleged scam which included a case against member of Madhya Pradesh Backward Classess and Minorities Commission member and his son. The investigating agency also launched a probe into the “mysterious” deaths of five persons associated with the scam, including a TV reporter Akshay Singh who had gone to cover stories related to the scandal involving the Madhya Pradesh Professional Examination Board (MPPEB), also known by its Hindi acronym Vyapam. Singh, a TV Today group reporter, had died on 4 July minutes after interviewing Damor’s parents. With the Supreme Court while handing over the investigation in the scam to CBI having asked it to probe the deaths of people linked to it, the agency also called for records from the Superintendents of Police of Ujjain, Kanker, Gwalior, Jhabua and DIG, Indore, of “mysterious” deaths in the case. Congress has alleged at least 49 people associated with the scandal have so far died under “mysterious” circumstances. (With inputs from PTI)