Make Vyapam accused students, job seekers approvers: Digvijay Singh

Bhopal: Students and job applicants who were cheated by those involved in the Vyapam scam should be made approvers in the case by CBI, Congress leader Digvijay Singh on Friday demanded and accused the Madhya Pradesh government-appointed STF of "muddling" the probe earlier.

He accused the BJP government of trying to shield the actual offenders in the high-profile corruption scandal, which relates to irregularities in admission in medical colleges and recruitment in government jobs.

"By making the accused, those who were cheated (students and job aspirants), and by not taking action against cheaters, like middlemen, scorers, Ministers and officials among others, the state government is trying to save the offenders. It has totally muddled the probe (raita faila diya)," the Congress general secretary told reporters outside CBI office here.

Singh arrived at the CBI office from Ujjain where he took a holy dip in river Kshipra on the first day of Simhastha (Kumbh) mela.

The former chief minister visited the office to clear certain doubts the agency had regarding a letter he had written to the CBI Director on the issue of Vyapam scam probe.

"Since beginning, I have been stating that those who were cheated, like students who got admission in medical colleges and job aspirants, be made approvers in the case. Middlemen, scorers, Ministers, officials of Vyapam and others directly involved in the scam should be made accused to unearth the truth," he said.

He alleged the earlier probe agency, MP police's Special Task Force (STF), and the BJP government had messed up the inquiry by making nearly 3,500 people, including students and job applicants, accused in the case. The CBI took over the probe in July last year.

The Congress veteran also alleged that the STF officials who handled the investigation indulged in corrupt practices while naming and arresting the accused.

The Congress leader tried to draw a parallel between the teachers recruitment scam of Haryana and Vyapam.

In the case of the Haryana scam, the CBI did not arrest any teacher (who was appointed fraudulently), but went after real offenders, including former Chief Minister O P Chautala. But in Vyapam, those who were cheated are behind bars while those involved in the scam were roaming free, Singh said.

Asked about the pen drive he had submitted to the CBI, Singh claimed its contents were certified by a lab. It is up to the central agency to match them with contents of the original hard disk which is in their custody.