Deaths in Madhya Pradesh not related to Vyapam scam, won't order CBI probe, says state Home Minister

Bhopal: The Vyapam scam in Madhya Pradesh is getting murkier by the day. Yet another accused in the case, 30-year-old veterinary doctor Narendra Tomar, died under mysterious circumstances on Sunday night.

However, refusing to order a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into Tomar's death, Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Babu Lal Gaur claimed that the deaths have no connection to the vyapam scam.

Tomar was rushed to a hospital where he was declared dead. He had been in Indore jail under trial since February 2015. Tomar was said to have arranged for impostors who had written the papers in place of genuine aspirants.

So far, nearly 40 people involved in the case, accused as well as witnesses, have died under suspicious circumstances. The most high profile of the cases was the death of former MP governor Ram Naresh Yadav's son Shailesh Yadav who succumbed after having a brain haemorrhage in March.

Several politicians, including former Education Minister Laxmikant Sharma, a host of officials and scores of aspirants have been arrested in the case.

Congress members had in the past, met Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking the Centre's intervention in the Vyapam scam case in Madhya Pradesh and claimed to have submitted "solid evidence" showing Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan's involvement in it.