With details emerging about the death of 19-year-old medical student Namrata Damor connected to the Vyapam scam being a possible case of homicide and not suicide, the Congress said on Wednesday that the deaths alone call for a separate Supreme Court-monitored investigation.
“There should be two separate inquiries, monitored by the Supreme Court and conducted by the CBI. One, into the deaths that have now crossed 49, and two, into the Vyapam scam,” former Minister of State for Home Affairs R.P.N. Singh said, reiterating the demand for Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s resignation.
‘Double speak’ Accusing Mr. Chouhan of “double speak”, he said the Chief Minister had earlier written to the High Court praising the Special Task Force. “The same STF, it now emerges, had claimed that Namrata Damor’s death was a suicide…They have been conducting shoddy investigations,” Mr. Singh said. In the case of Dr. D.K. Sakale, Dean of the Jabalpur Medical College who was found dead last year, the Congress said the STF had not even begun the process of questioning witnesses. The BJP defended Mr. Chouhan saying he had ordered multiple inquiries each time concerns were raised. “He ordered two inquiries before this. When he felt there was unease among the people because every death is being related to the Vyapam investigations, he decided to seek a CBI probe through the High Court. Mr. Chouhan has made it clear that he will welcome a CBI probe monitored by the Supreme Court, if it is ordered,” a BJP leader said in New Delhi.
Reacting to allegations against Governor Ram Naresh Yadav, who was appointed by the UPA, Mr. Singh said: “The BJP-led government has unconstitutionally removed all Governors appointed by the UPA except Mr. Yadav. They need to answer why.”
Asked if the Congress would seek Mr. Yadav’s removal, Mr. Singh said, “anyone associated with the scam should be removed immediately.”
