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I am a minister, yet I am scared : Uma Bhartai on Vyapam deaths

by IBNS 07 Jul 2015, 10:43 am

New Delhi, Jul 7 (IBNS) As the series of eerie deaths linked to the Vyapam scam leaves the country baffled Union minister Uma Bharti has said that she herself is "scared" and asks Madhya Pradesh chief minister and her party colleague Shivraj Singh Chouhan to "do something" to address panic in the state.

"There is panic in Madhya Pradesh due to the deaths. I am scared. I am a minister but still I am scared. I will convey my fears to Shivraj Singh Chouhan,"  Bharti, a former chief minister of Madhya Pradesh , told reporters.

"We have won the elections under Shivraj Singh Chouhan. We won 27 out of 29 seats. But because of the fear created in the state, he (Chouhan) must find way out to put the state at ease," she has been quoted as saying. .
 
The minister said she was among the first to suggest a  CBI investigation and supported  her senior cabinet colleague Arun Jaitley's view that there should be a fair inquiry. 

Since 2012, there have been over 40 deaths in connection with the scam involving politicians and bureaucrats allegedly accepting bribes for allowing imposters to take the recruitment exam for government jobs and admission to colleges.

Since Saturday, four have died - a journalist, a medical college dean and two cops. Of all the deaths so far, 10 were due to road accidents and six were suicides. Some have died of "alcohol poisoning" and at least two of heart attacks.
 
Uma Bharti said it was possible that people are dying of "shame and fear" caused by the scandal.
 
"Maybe nobody is killing them. But the fear and shame of the innocent people is causing brain haemorrhage, heart attack or suicide. Because when I heard my name in Vyapam, even I have gone through lot of trauma...What I went through that night...I could have died," she claimed.

Uma Bharti has been named in an FIR or police complaint by one of the accused in the scam.