Ending 12-year chase, CBI arrests Vyapam scam accused from Haridwar

Bhopal, Sep 9 After a 12-year-long chase, the CBI arrested an impersonator who appeared in the exam on behalf of a candidate in Police Constable Recruitment Test (PCRT)-2013 in Madhya Pradesh in what is popularly known as the Vyapam scam case.

Shelendra Kumar was arrested in Haridwar, Uttarakhand, in connection with a case registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on September 15, 2013, an official of the investigative agency said.

The CBI, in a statement, said that the accused had appeared in the exam on behalf of the candidate and was earlier arrested by the Madhya Pradesh Police.

However, Kumar failed to appear when the CBI filed the charge sheet in June 2017 and has been absconding since then. He was formally declared an absconder in July 2018, the CBI said.

Recently, the CBI used technical intelligence to develop crucial leads, which helped confirm his identity and pinpoint his location in Haridwar.

Acting swiftly on this intelligence, a CBI team successfully traced and apprehended him on Monday.

Earlier in January, RTI activist Ashish Chaturvedi, who is one of the whistleblowers of the Vyapam Scam, was booked for allegedly abusing and misbehaving with Special Armed Force (SAF) jawans deployed for his security.

According to official information, the action came following a complaint lodged by a SAF jawan, alleging that Chaturvedi forced them to perform his household chores and would abuse them if they refused to perform the domestic work.

The incident took place in Chandrabadni of the Jhansi Road police station area, where some jawans were posted for Chaturvedi's security.

Chaturvedi, a resident of Jhansi, has been provided security following directions from the Madhya Pradesh High Court in 2022.

Another whistleblower, Anand Rai, who exposed the Vyapam scam in Madhya Pradesh, entered politics last year by joining a national party.

Rai had filed a PIL in the Madhya Pradesh High Court demanding a thorough investigation into the irregularities in 2013. The Madhya Pradesh High Court had ordered a probe by a Special Investigation Team (SIT).

The case was later handed over to the CBI in 2015. The investigations resulted in the arrest of several high-profile politicians, including the state's former Education Minister.

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