Vyapam scam: 5 get 7-year jail term

BHOPAL: In the first conviction after CBI took over probe of Vyapam scam, involving irregularities in admissions in medical colleges and recruitments in government jobs in Madhya Pradesh, five accused were sentenced to imprisonment for seven years each.

The convicted were accused of adopting unfair means in recruitment tests for the post of constables in 2012, CBI counsellor Satish Dinakar said. This was the first case of conviction in the Vyapam scam, after CBI took over the probe from special task force (STF), constituted by the MP government earlier.

Those convicted were Narottam Yadav, Bhagwan Singh Yadav, Abinash Singh Yadav, Prabhat Meheta and Trishab Agrawal.

While, the STF had filed chargesheet against Narottam, Bhagwan and Abinash in the case, the CBI has later added names of two more accused, Prabhat and Trishab to the chargesheet.

The CBI special court here which started hearing in the case on July 27 last year, on Monday convicted the five accused in the case.

The CBI special court judge M C Upadhyaya pronounced quantum of punishment on Tuesday.

The court also slapped a fine of Rs 7,000 each on the five convicts.

The CBI has already filed three chargesheets in the Vyapam scam against a total of 98 accused who included a former minister in the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government and three senior officers of MP professional Examination Board (MPPEB), famously known as Vyapam in Hindi acronym.

MPPEB conducts the entrance examinations for the medical and engineering colleges in MP and recruitment tests for class three and class four jobs of the state government.

Vyapam scam surfaced at the national level following deaths of at least 52 people, directly or indirectly linked to the scandal, including a journalist of a national Hindi news channel, during the course of investigation.