This Article is From Jul 06, 2015

He Died While Reporting Vyapam Scam. Now, AIIMS to Handle Tests

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Akshay Singh, who worked for TV Today group, died after having interviewed parents of a girl whose name figured in the Vyapam scam.

Bhopal: The Madhya Pradesh police have agreed to conduct forensic tests on samples from the body  of the Delhi-based journalist who died on Saturday while investigating the death of a girl named in Vyapam scam. The test will be conducted at New Delhi's All India Institute of Medical Sciences, or AIIMS, said the police.

The decision about the viscera test by the Madhya Pradesh government - which has so far refused to order a CBI inquiry into the matter - followed Union minister Arun Jaitley's comment that it is "absolutely important that a very fair inquiry" be held into the death. He is among 33 people linked to the Vyapam scam who have died under mysterious circumstances since 2012.

The 38-year-old journalist from TV Today, Akshay Singh, had collapsed suddenly on Saturday while interviewing the parents of Namrata Damor.

Doctors say the preliminary check-ups have indicated that Mr Singh had died of a heart attack - the claim has been rubbished by the family.

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Mr Singh was cremated in Delhi on Sunday. The ceremony was attended by a number of Opposition leaders including Rahul Gandhi and Arvind Kejriwal, who pressed for an inquiry by the Central Bureau of Investigation into the scam and the deaths of the 33 accused and witnesses that have taken place over the last few years.

The body of Namrata Damor, who had allegedly used fraudulent means to clear PMT exam in 2010, was found on the railway tracks in Ujjain.

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Her father, whom Mr Singh was interviewing before he collapsed suddenly on Saturday afternoon, had moved court for a CBI inquiry into her death. The appeal had been turned down by the high court.

Mr Singh, he said, had wanted to get some of the documents photocopied. The conversation was progressing peacefully, when Mr Singh started frothing at the mouth and collapsed, Mr Damor had told NDTV. He was taken to the hospital, but the doctors had failed to revive him.
 
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