INDORE: Although four days have passed since the seizure of Rs 9.96 lakh in cash from Meghna Pandey, the wife of Vyapam scam whistleblower Prashant Pandey, the police said the probe was on to find out whether the money was related to hawala transaction, as suspected.
"The money seized from Meghna under suspicious conditions is still being probed," Superintendent of Police O P Tripathi said here. Asked if the police had got some leads indicating that it was a hawala money, he said, "Nothing can be said at this juncture. It is being probed threadbare."
The money was seized from Meghna Pandey on July 25 under the section 102 of the Criminal Procedure Code which empowers police to confiscate any 'suspicious property'. Meghna was detained briefly but was allowed to go after questioning. Her husband Prashant Pandey had claimed that it was their own hard-earned money, and the action was a witch-hunt.
"My family is being harassed at the behest of the MP government after the Supreme Court ordered CBI probe into Vyapam scam and mysterious deaths related to it," he said. He claimed that the money had been duly mentioned in the IT return and it was meant to be given to a builder for buying a flat. The police, however, denied that it was a witch-hunt.
Pandey had provided several documents about the Vyapam scam which refers to the widespread rackets in recruitment and professional courses entrance tests conducted by the Madhya Pradesh Professional Examination Board. He has also filed a petition following which the SC ordered the CBI probe into the scam.