Constable who killed self was probed in Vyapam

Referring to the recent deaths and the public outcry for a thorough probe, Chouhan said many unfortunate events have occurred of late, including the journalist’s death, and that people have a right to know the truth.

However, questions have been raised about Vasundhara’s stake in her son’s company in which Lalit had also invested and the Congress has accused her of grabbing a palace.

“Their only objective is to target me and tarnish my reputation”, he said at a news conference.

The High Court in May quashed the FIR holding that Yadav enjoyed immunity while in office.

Earlier police had registered a “murder” case in this regard and later termed the incident as an “accident” and closed the case, a police official said. So after three years and 40 deaths, what forced Chouhan to do a volte-face now?

“The concerned ministers and party president have answered”. Chouhan, a media darling once, has suddenly became an object of ridicule ever since the alarming number of deaths started surfacing. “With a CBI probe, everything will be crystal clear in the case”.

One set of Excel sheets related to the scam that have remained controversial have the names of candidates, their roll numbers, and their references – ranging from “CM”, “CM’s residence”, “Uma Bharati” and “Governor”, among others.

“The decision to hand over the Vyapam scam case to CBI also shows that the Chouhan government has nothing to hide”, said Vinay Sahasrabudhe, a senior BJP functionary in the state.

Sharma died a day after television journalist Akshay Singh passed away while reporting on the scam.

On Sunday, Arun Sharma, dean of the Netaji Subhas Chandra Medical College at Jabalpur, who was connected with the probe into the scandal, was found dead in a hotel room near Delhi’s Indira Gandhi worldwide Airport.

And on Monday, a woman police trainee was found dead in Sagar district though the police denied any link with the scam.

Congress has been demanding sacking of Chauhan and has been insisting that a fair probe is not possible with him at the helm.

“SIT probe into the scam is on, and the government can not direct the High Court or the Supreme Court on the issue”, he said in Jhabua yesterday, noting the MP High Court and the Supreme Court had already rejected Public Interest Litigations (PILs) seeking a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) inquiry. He added: “It is an effort to mislead people”.

The Congress on Monday demanded a Supreme Court-monitored CBI probe into the scandal and sought Chouhan’s resignation.

Singh, a former MP chief minister, and whistle-blowers – Ashish Chaturvedi, Anand Rai and Prashant Pandey – have also moved the apex court seeking a CBI probe under its supervision.

“We are just monitoring the probe as per the orders of the High Court and if the High Court decides some other agency would do it, (then) there is no question of any feeling on my part”.