Vyapam scam: CBI set to chargesheet MP ex-minister

The CBI is all set to file chargesheet against former Madhya Pradesh education minister Laxmikant Sharma as part of its investigation into the multi-crore Vyapam scam. The agency has so far filed total 48 chargesheets against 134 accused in the scam.

Mr Sharma and a former officer on special duty (OSD) to Madhya Pradesh Raj Bhavan are among 20 accused named in an FIR registered by the CBI to probe massive irregularities in recruitments done by Madhya Pradesh Professional Examination Board (MPPEB) or ‘Vyapam’. The agency will soon file chargesheet against all accused named in the FIR, they added. Earlier, Mr Sharma was also examined by the CBI in connection with agency’s probe into the alleged irregularities committed in the state police subedar, sub-inspector and platoon commander recruitment examination conducted by the Vyapam in 2012-13.

The CBI on Thursday filed its 48th chargehseet pertaining to the Vyapam scam in the special CBI court in Gwalior. Sources said, “CBI investigations have revealed that the Vyapam scam involved collusion among candidates, government officials, state level politicians and middlemen. Undeserving candidates bribed the MPPEB officials through middlemen to be seated strategically next to a brilliant dummy candidate, who was also paid money.” The Supreme Court on July 9, 2015, had transferred the probe of all cases related to Vyapam scam to the CBI. Vyapam is a government body responsible for conducting several entrance tests in Madhya Pradesh. It recruits for government jobs and admissions to educational institutes. Vyapam scam is allegedly a well-orchestrated rigging of entrance exams to help undeserving candidates, who allegedly bribed politicians and officials through middlemen, to get high ranks in these entrance tests. The scam dates back to 2004. More than 2,000 people have so far been arrested in connection with the scam. So far 44 people related to the Vyapam scam have turned up dead.