UJJAIN / NEW DELHI: Madhya Pradesh police have decided to reopen the death case of an MBBS student whose name figured in the Vyapam scam after her postmortem report, which described it has "homicidal" caused by "violent asphyxia", became public, adding yet another twist to the scandal.
The report said Namrata Damor, whose body was found near railway tracks in Ujjain district on January 7, 2012, had died a "homicidal" death caused by "violent axphyxia as a result of smothering".
The development came a day after an embattled Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan recommended a CBI probe into the scandal that is said to have claimed 45 lives.
The case of mysterious death of Damor, an alleged beneficiary of the massive admission and recruitment scam, had got obscured with time, but was back in focus last Saturday when TV journalist Akshay Singh, probing the Vyapam scam, died soon after interviewing her parents.
"We have ordered a review of the death of Namrata Damor. Sub-Divisional Officer of Police (SDOP), Tarana, R K Sharma will reopen the case," Ujjain Superintendent of Police Manohar Singh Varma told PTI today.
Police had registered a murder case following her death but later closed it describing it as an "accident".
Despite Chouhan requesting the Madhya Pradesh High Court yesterday for a CBI probe into the scandal that has dented the credibility of his government, there was no let up in Congress' relentless assault on him with the party slamming the "criminal delay" in ordering an investigation by the central agency.
The BJP shot back, saying now that Chouhan had sought court's direction for a CBI probe, Congress should stop "monitoring" it.
"This scam has an abhorring chapter of crime, conspiracy and murder. Preliminary evidence has its own significance in investigation. Shivraj Singh Chouhan has made a criminal delay in handing over the probe to CBI and many evidences have already been wiped out by now," Congress leader Pramod Tiwari said in Delhi.
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Congress spokesperson Shobha Oza demanded that the CBI probe encompass deaths of all people related to the scam.
"All such cases of deaths related to Vyapam, which have been described as suicide by Madhya Pradesh government should be probed by CBI under the monitoring of Supreme Court so that truth of all such unnatural deaths, accidental deaths and suicides come out," she demanded and alleged names of a number of RSS and BJP leaders had figured in the scandal.
Another party spokesman Abhishek Singhvi reiterated the demand for supervision of CBI probe by a Special Investigating Team.
He also attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his continued silence on the scandal. "If the Prime Minister will not speak on a case of 30, 40, 50 deaths, then I wonder what he will speak on. Will he speak on Twitter, on social media, on Red Fort, on television, on Mann ki baat?"
BJP spokesman Shahnawaz Hussain said since the Chief Minister had already sent a letter to the High Court requesting it to hand over the case to CBI, the matter was now between the court and the investigating agency and Congress should stop "monitoring" it.
"The country and its people have faith in court-monitored investigation. There is no need for Congress monitoring it," he said.
Youth Congress workers also staged a protest in Delhi demanding resignation of Chouhan and a court-monitored probe by the CBI.
Youth Congress president Amrinder Singh Raja Brar, NSUI chief Roji John, besides Congress's media department chief Randeep Surjewala addressed the workers.