Vyapam scam: No 'foul play' in journalist's death, claims medical officer; CM assures of fair probe
Bhopal: The post mortem report of journalist Akshay Singh does not show any foul play, medical doctor, Dahod Civil Hospital, Dr. Ashok Bachani said on Saturday.
"The post mortem does not show any foul play. No external wounds were found in the body," Dr. Bachani said. "To determine the reason behind death, we have sent viscera for histopathology and forensic analysis. After reports come in, we'll be able to give the reason behind his death," he added.
Akshay Singh, a journalist with a television channel, died suddenly on Saturday when he had gone to take an interview of the family of a slain Vyapam scam accused in Jhabua district of Madhya Pradesh. Reports say that Singh felt chest pain when he was taking the interview. He was taken to Meghnagar hospital where he was declared brought dead.
Expressing his shock and sadness over Akshay Singh’s death, senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh on Saturday demanded that the former’s viscera samples to be sent to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences.
“I am very sad. Akshay had gone to Madhya Pradesh after meeting me. I am very sad and shocked about this news. And I express my condolences towards his family,” Digvijay said.
“We wanted his post mortem to take place in Delhi. The viscera should not be sent to either Gujarat or Madhya Pradesh labs, it should be sent to AIIMS, National Forensic Science laboratory,” he added.
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Saturday assured that a proper investigation would be conducted into the death of journalist Akshay Singh. “The post mortem is being videographed so that the truth about the death comes out. There will be a proper investigation into the incident. We will leave no stone unturned,” said Chouhan.
“It is very sad that a young journalist died like this. I can understand his family’s pain. I can assure them that there will be no lapse in the probe. We stand with his family,” he added.
The Madhya Pardesh Chief Minister also lambasted the opposition for its allegations regarding the case. “It is unfortunate. This Vyapam case was not brought out by the opposition. I was the one who brought it out in the open. If the government initiates any investigation, it is about an event but I thought that I have to clean the system and that is why I ordered the STF to conduct an in-depth probe,” said Chouhan.
Describing journalist Akshay Singh’s last moments, eyewitness Om Prakash Damor on Sunday said that the former’s health started deteriorating rapidly when he had gone to take the interview. “His health started deteriorating rapidly. His lips were trembling, his mouth started frothing and his hands started moving. After this he started collapsing, we picked him up and took him to the government hospital in the car,” said Damor.
“We saw that there was no pulse and there wasn’t any facility in the hospital either. So we took him to Jeevan Jyoti hospital. There doctors weren’t available and the nurses saw him. But they said he had no pulse,” he added.
