- 23 No. of people dead in mysterious circumstances
- 12 Most deaths of people linked to the scandal are in Gwalior district
- 9 Those who died before they were named as accused
- In nearly 90% of the deaths, no viscera has been preserved
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The Organisation
- ‘Vyapam’ is short for Vyavasayik Pariksha Mandal, or professional examination board
- Set up in 1970 to conduct pre-medical tests, is now involved in admission and recruitment
- Holds admission test for medical, engineering, law, dental, homoeopathy, teachers’ training colleges
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- Conducts recruitment tests for constables, inspectors, paramedics, peons and all positions in MP government not covered by state public service commission
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The Investigation
- PIL into Vyapam’s functioning filed in Jabalpur High Court in 2009, which ordered investigation by a special task force in 2013
- STF has arrested around 2,000 people, mostly students and teachers accused of using unfair means to secure admission; will arrest 800 more
- The first probe committee, set up in December 2009, came up with its report after 24 months—it threw up 114 fake candidates
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- A second committee, this time to probe all admissions from 2006-12, pegs number of fake candidates at 296; in all, 876 students are said to have benefited
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The Netas
- Ram Naresh Yadav Governor, who rigged forest guard recruitments
- Sadhna Singh CM’s wife, allegedly in touch with some of the accused
- Laxmikant Sharma Ex edu min, arrested for amassing scam wealth
- Suresh Soni Accused, along with late RSS chief K.S. Sudarshan, of issuing recommendation letters
- Dr Gulab Singh Kirar Accused of using influence or money to get son 1st rank in pre-PG (medical) in 2011
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The Near & Dear Ones
- Sudhir Bhadoria Controller of examination, Narendra Tomar kin
- O.P. Shukla Laxmikant OSD, took Rs 85 lakh for clearing med entrance
- Ajay Mehta CM’s family doc, arrested by STF, freed on bail in 3 months
- Dhanraj Yadav Former officer on special duty to the governor, arrested
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- Prem Prasad Yadav, PA to CM, accused of getting a large number of students into medical college
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The Officers
- Pankaj Trivedi Vyapam’s examination controller who provided model answers to students
- R.K. Shivhare DIG; his son and daughter-in-law got into medical college; surrendered after evading arrest
- Ravikant Dwivedi Joint commissioner (revenue); cash, jewellery property of Rs 60-70 cr found
- Ranjana Chaudhary, Retd IAS, alleged to have been paid Rs 42 lakh; not yet investigated
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The Other Notables
- Jagdish Sagar Businessman, whose arrest in Mumbai in 2013 blew the lid off the scam, interrogation led to other arrests
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- Dr Vinod Bhandari Main accused, escaped to Mauritius when he was named in the scam, arrested on his return
- Sudhir Sharma Involved earlier in MP mining scam, played a key role in Vyapam scandal