New Delhi, 05 July 2015: Arun Sharma, the dean of a medical college in Madhya Pradesh, who was assisting the Vyapam scam investigation, was on Sunday morning found dead in a hotel here, police said.
His body was found in his room at Uppal Hotel near the Indira Gandhi International airport. He was to head to Agartala as a member of an inspection team of the Medical Council of India.
Sharma, 64, the dean MS Medical College in Jabalpur, was assisting the Special Task Force set up to probe the recruitment scam in the Madhya Pradesh Vyavsayik Pareeksha Mandal (Vyapam) by providing documents on fake medical entrance examinees in the state-run medical college, police said.
“He (the dean) had asked the hotel staff for a wake up call on Sunday morning. However, when there was no response to the staff’s calls, the hotel’s staff broke open the door and found him dead,” investigating police officer R.S. Pandey told IANS.
“Whiskey and some medicines were found near his bed. There were no wounds on his body. A post-mortem examination will be conducted today (Sunday) after his son arrives in Delhi,” a police officer said.
Delhi journalist covering Vyapam scam dead; Congress demands probe
A journalist from a Delhi-based TV channel who was covering the massive recruitment scam in the Madhya Pradesh Vyavsayik Pareeksha Mandal (Vyapam) fell ill and died in a hospital on Saturday, officials said.
Akshay Singh of TV channel Aaj Tak died in Jhabua on Saturday afternoon.
The Congress party voiced concern about the “more than 40 mysterious deaths of individuals associated with the Vyapam scam”. The party said the issue needs to be probed thoroughly.
Akshay Singh was in Madhya Pradesh for coverage of the recent deaths due to the scam in the Madhya Pradesh Professional Examination Board (MPPEB) or Vyapam.
On Saturday, he was in Meghnagar in Jhabua to talk to the family members of scam-accused Namrata Damor, who was found dead under mysterious circumstances.
Jhabua Superintendent of Police Abid Khan told IANS that Akshay Singh and his two colleagues interviewed the family members for around an hour, after which the journalist suddenly fell ill. He was taken to a hospital, where doctors declared him dead.
Sources said that after the interview was over, Akshay Singh and his colleagues went to get some documents photocopied, when he fell ill and began foaming at the mouth.
The alleged manipulation in the selection process for government jobs in Madhya Pradesh, conducted by Vyapam, is being probed by a Special Investigation Team.
Congress leader R.S. Surjewala said in a statement: “The Congress party is pained at and condoles the untimely death of Akshay Singh, the Aaj Tak/India Today reporter investigating the Vyapam Scam in Madhya Pradesh.
“His death, coming after more than 40 mysterious deaths of individuals associated with the Vyapam scam raises very serious concerns and questions and needs to be investigated thoroughly and impartially.”
The India Today Group, in a statement, said it was deeply saddened by the untimely death of Akshay Singh, who was working with Aaj Tak as a special correspondent since December 2013.
It said Akshay Singh was part of Aaj Tak’s ‘special investigation team’ and was on an assignment in Madhya Pradesh investigating the Vyapam scam for the past four days.
“The cause of his sudden demise is not yet clear,” it said adding “We hope that doctors and law enforcement agencies are able to establish the cause of Akshay’s death.”
(IANS)
