Scribe covering Vyapam scam suddenly takes ill, dies

JHABUA: A journalist working for a leading Delhi-based news channel today suddenly took ill and died after having interviewed parents of a girl who had been found dead near railway tracks after her name figured in the infamous Vyapam scam of Madhya Pradesh.

The incident took place in Meghnagar near Jhabua town. Akshay Singh, who worked for a national news channel, had today called on the parents of Namrata Damor, whose body had been found under mysterious circumstances near railway tracks in Ujjain district.

Namrata's father Mehtab Singh Damor said Akshay and two others visited their house this afternoon. After the interview was over, someone was sent to get some papers photocopied.

As Akshay was waiting outside Damor's house, suddenly he started frothing at the mouth. He was rushed to civil hospital and later to a private hospital, but doctors failed to revive him. From there he was taken to another hospital in nearby Dahod in Gujarat, where he was declared brought dead.

Jhabua district's Superintendent of Police Abid Khan confirmed that a person named Akshay Singh had died in Meghnagar.

At least 25 accused/witnesses have died so far in Vyapam scam, a massive admission and recruitment racket involving several bureaucrats and politicians, and the opposition Congress has been demanding a CBI probe into the matter.