The moment disclosure to this effect was made, Congress issued lists of Ministers who took advantage of the manipulation of test results. While Congress issued the list of illegal beneficiaries of the ruling party, the BJP on its part declared the list of important Congress leaders who also got admissions for their sons and daughters. A newspaper published the lists issued by rival parties with the caption 'Congress, BJP wash dirty linen in public' Addressing a press conference, Satyadev Katare, leader of opposition, named the present and former ministers who manipulated admissions for their wards.

Katare alleged that Sukarna and Mrignayani, both children of minister Dr Mishra, Nidhi Gupta, and Emi Gupta, both daughters of minister Umashankar Gupta, Naina Sonkar and Geetanjali Sonkar, daughters of former minister Prakash Sonkar, Babita Sharma, niece of BJP leader Vishnu Dutta Sharma, Ankita Pandey, Ankit Pandey, both children and niece of private university regulatory commission chairman Dr. Akhilesh Pandey, Ishita, relative of BJP leader Harnam Singh Rathore and Priyanka Thakur, got admission in private colleges.

He demanded probe into their admissions saying that it requires probe following revelation by DMAT controller Yogesh Uprit that all admissions were fixed in private colleges.

Katare said “He would soon issue a list of 100 MLAs and 100 IAS and IPS officers who used DMAT to get admissions for their wards and relatives in private medical colleges.

Claiming that the boot is on other leg, Dr. Narottam Mishra, cabinet spokesman said : “We don’t want to drag the children of political leaders in politics but as the leader of opposition said that no member of families of Congress leaders got medical admission, we remind them by issuing the list. He said, Abid Aqueel, son of Congress MLA Arif Aqueel, Sakshi, daughter of former MLA PC Sharma, Shweta Singh, daughter of Gajendra Singh, Chinmay, son of former MLA Tulsi Silawat, Minakshi, daughter of Sunil Sud, Shikha Yadav, niece of PCC president Arun Yadav, and one relative of Congress leader Hajarilal Raghuvanshi got admission.

Earlier they made false and baseless allegations in Vyapam and this time repeated the same without any evidence. My son Sukarn, got admission in Aurobindo College when there was no DMAT, the minister said.

On a question, Mishra said he would not initiate suit against the Leader of opposition for defamation. Instead, he would take the fight in public for justice.

Meanwhile it is learnt that Gwalior police would bring Yogesh Uprit to Bhopal for interrogation in Pre PG scam and DMAT irregularities, said official sources. Dr. Richa Johri, who had taken admission in PG in Jabalpur Medial College with the help of Uprit after paying Rs 25 lakh, went underground from her residence and nursing home. She was under watch by SIT after her name surfaced in the scam. Police sources said, in the garb of a nurse, she disappeared from nursing home.

SIT had given her time to appear till Monday in the case. “She was given time as her one year old son was not well. But she took its benefit and disappeared, said sources. Gwalior police will announce cash award on her arrest.. SIT officials interrogated Uprit on Monday and brought him for medical examination after his condition deteriorated. He has cancer at critical stage.

Meanwhile, Vivek K. Tankha, former additional solicitor general of India and former Advocate General of Madhya Pradesh made several sensational disclosures in a signed article published in a local news paper.

In the article he writes Madhya Pradesh continues to be rocked by the revelations of the Vyapam scam. It is a non-ending saga of the state’s connivance on a scale hitherto unthinkable. The Vyapam scam, in short, is a multi-billion home-grown illicit business engineered with full state patronage. It is the largest scam engulfing the ‘highest’ and the ‘mightiest’ from the state. It is now an acronym for procuring illegal admissions in government and private medical and dental colleges and jobs in government services on a magnitude never seen before.

In March, the Special Task Force (STF) investigating the scam in its affidavit before the Supreme Court admitted that it arrested approximately 1,800 accused (mostly students, parents and some middlemen) and are on the lookout for another 800 people. According to conservative estimates, what has been uncovered so far is only 20% of the scam.

The scam involves the selection of jobs for various services in Madhya Pradesh including police, excise, revenue and education, between 2007 and 2013 to an estimated 140,000 posts. It also involves thousands of illegal admissions in graduate and post-graduate medical and dental colleges.

Though the Madhya Pradesh chief minister never misses an opportunity to claim credit for starting the investigation into the scam, this is not true. The investigation commenced on July 7, 2013 on the basis of a report lodged by civil rights activist Anand Rai at Indore. For further investigation this report was later transferred to the STF Bhopal. Incidentally, according to Rai, officers who were in the crime branch at Indore investigating this offence and with close links to the ruling party, were conveniently associated with the investigation of the STF.

Activist Ashish Chaturvedi, who is a crucial witness in the scam, continues to receive threats to his life. Court orders to protect him are observed more in the breach and less in action. His points a finger to the ineffectiveness of our justice delivery system to protect witnesses and whistle-blowers, and also raises questions on the intentions of the state and its agencies.

A crucial cog in the Vyapam scam is Prashant Pandey, a forensic–IT expert. The STF engaged the whistle-blower to unravel the truth of the scam. Pandey provided crucial leads and digital evidence connecting the top-most people of the state, including the office of the chief minister, with illicit businesses.

While claiming that more than 40 persons involved in this scam have died in mysterious circumstances or committed suicide, Tankha commented if 40 deaths cannot evoke the conscience of the rulers of the state and Centre for an independent investigation by an agency like the CBI, it only signifies the collapse of our criminal justice delivery edifice. Posterity will put the blame on all institutions. The common people of Madhya Pradesh are still hoping that justice will be done finally and the culprits will be brought to book. (IPA Service)