Vyapam scam: 40-member CBI team to begin probe on Monday

New Delhi/Bhopal: A 40-member team of the CBI will reach Bhopal on Monday to take over the probe into the recruitment scam in the Madhya Pradesh Vyavsayik Pareeksha Mandal (Vyapam) and the over 40 deaths linked to it, officials said on Sunday.

A Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) official said in New Delhi that the team will reach Bhopal in accordance with the directions of the Supreme Court.

"In compliance with the orders of the Supreme Court, the CBI has constituted a team of around 40 members to take over the investigation of all Vyapam-related cases. The CBI team will reach Bhopal on Monday and begin the process of taking over the investigation," the official said.

The apex court had recently handed over to the CBI the investigation into criminal cases related to the Vyapam scam and the deaths linked to it.

Sources said the Special Task Force (STF), which was earlier looking into the Vyapam scam, will submit to the CBI around 10 tonnes -- or two truckloads -- of documents related to the case.

Around 2,100 people have been arrested in the Vyapam scam, and at least 491 accused are absconding.

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan was under pressure from opposition, particularly Congress, to order a CBI probe following the death of Arun Sharma, the dean of a Jabalpur Medical College who was probing the scandal, on Sunday last.

Sharma's death came a day after Akshay Singh, a journalist of the TV Today group, doing stories on Vyapam scam trail, died minutes after he had interviewed the parents of a deceased accused.

At least five people associated with Vyapam, including Sharma and Singh, have died under mysterious circumstances in the last 10 days.

The opposition claimed that 45 people linked to the scam in one or other way have died, though the official figure of "unnatural deaths" so far is 25.

The multi-crore rupees professional examination scam, involves several high-profile professionals, politicians and bureaucrats as accused.

The alleged scam involves MPPEB, which holds examinations for various posts such as teachers, medical officers, forest guards and constables. 

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