Vyapam scam: Man gets five years of rigorous imprisonment

A special court here on Fridaysentenced a 39-year-old man, involved in the multi-croreVyapam admission and recruitment scam in Madhya Pradesh, tofive years of rigorous imprisonment.

The man, identified as Manish Sinha, was awardedsentence under relevant sections of the Madhya PradeshRecognised Examinations Act and under IPC sections 420(cheating) and 467 (forgery).

The convict hails from Patna in Bihar.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which isprobing the Vyapam scam, proved in the court that Sinha hadappeared for the Pre-Medical Test (PMT)-2004 at a centre inKhandwa in MP in the name of Sant Kumar Trivedia, a residentof Gwalior.

Special public prosecutor Ranjan Sharma, while arguingthe case on behalf of the CBI, produced 21 witnesses in thematter.

The wrongdoing came to light when an invigilator atthe examination centre found that the admit-card carried thename of Trivedia, but the photo pasted on it did not matchthat of Sinha's face.

According to the prosecution, Sinha had appeared forthe examination for monetary consideration.

The Vyapam scam refers to irregularities in exams heldby the Madhya Pradesh Professional Examination Board, alsocalled Vyavasayik Pareeksha Mandal or Vyapam, for admission inprofessional courses and state services.

Multiple criminal cases related to the scam have beenfiled in different parts of the state.

Initially, a special task force of the state policehad investigated the scam. In 2016, the Supreme Court haddirected the CBI to investigate the scandal.