Father of Vyapam accused abducted as CBI begins probe

Bhopal: As the Central Bureau of Investigation begins its probe into the mysterious death of Vyapam scam accused Deepak Verma —  who had died in a road accident in Indore in Madhya Pradesh in 2010 — a police complaint has claimed that his father has been kidnapped from his home district of Singrauli in the state. Kaileshi Devi, wife of Puranlal, filed a complaint about the alleged abduction of her husband at a local police station in Singrauli district a couple of weeks ago, police said.

“A case of abduction has been filed. We are yet to trace Puranlal,” A.P. Goswami, station house officer of Kotwali police station, said. According to  the wife, she has not heard from her husband since August of this year.

Puranlal had questioned the road accident theory floated by police and had demanded a high-level inquiry into the death of his son — a 2008 batch student of MGM Medical College, Indore.

Deepak’s case was among five FIRs registered by the CBI after the Supreme Court directed the agency to probe the scam involving irregularities in admissions in medical colleges in MP and recruitments in state government.

He was also one of 44 individuals linked to the Vyapam scandal who have died under mysterious circumstances during the course of investigation. The dozens of deaths have cut off  crucial links to the kingpins in the medical exam scandal.

“Deepak’s death seems to have paved way for a few accused to get away with in the scam. Now, the abduction of his father may hamper the probe into his death, at least at this juncture,” a senior CBI officer told this newspaper on Sunday. Deepak was named as a middle-man in the scam by another student.