Aaj Tak Journalist, Covering Vyapam, Dies Mysteriously

Akshay Singh, reporter with Aaj Tak, investigating the Vyapam scam, died in suspicious circumstances in Jhabua, MP.

Akshay Singh, special correspondent with Aaj Tak, died mysteriously in Jhabua, Madhya Pradesh, while investigating the Vyapam scam. (Photo: Screengrab from Aaj Tak)

Akshay Singh, 38-year-old special correspondent with the Special Investigation Team at Aaj Tak’s Delhi Bureau, has died under mysterious circumstances today. He was investigating the Vyapam scam in Jhabua, Madhya Pradesh when this happened. He had been in MP over the last 4 days. He had visited Gwalior, and then traveled to Jhabua in southern MP.

Rahul Kanwal, Senior Managing Editor at India Today called the incident ‘hatya’ (murder) more than once while interviewing Madhya Pradesh CM, Shivraj Singh Chauhan on air. Shivraj Chauhan said he was shocked by Akshay Singh’s death, but refused to speculate on his death till the post-mortem report came in.

Akshay Singh’s post mortem is being conducted ‘in-camera’, the entire procedure being videographed, the aim being to prevent any foul play while trying to determine the cause of death.

Earlier on Saturday, in Jhabua, Akshay had been interviewing the parents of a girl who had been recently found dead on some railway tracks. Soon after having some tea and water, Akshay reportedly starts3 cad ed frothing at the mouth and collapsed.

He was rushed to civil hospital and later to a private hospital where he couldn’t be revived. Then he was taken to another hospital near Dahod in Gujarat, where he was declared dead.

The India Today Group had earlier released a statement which read:

The India Today Group is deeply saddened by the untimely demise of Akshay Singh. Akshay had been working with Aaj Tak as a Special Correspondent since December 2013. Akshay died in the Jhabua District of Madhya Pradesh this afternoon.

Akshay worked with the Special Investigation Team of Aaj Tak. He was an enterprising journalist who had many hard hitting investigations to his credit. He had been on an assignment in Madhya Pradesh investigating the Vyapam scam for the past four days. The cause of his sudden demise is not yet clear. We mourn the death of our valued colleague. Our thoughts and prayers are with Akshay’s family. We hope that doctors and law enforcement agencies are able to establish the cause of Akshay’s death.

Interestingly, Congress leader Digvijay Singh was among the first to tweet about the incident:

Shiv Aroor, Akshay Singh’s colleague, also tweeted:

Meanwhile, Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Babulal Gaur said the decision as to whether further probe was necessary into Akshay Singh’s death would be taken only after getting the autopsy report.

Let the post-mortem report come first, then we will decide on probing the issue further.

— Babulal Gaur, MP Home Minister

About the significant number of deaths of accused in Vyapam scam, the Home Minister said the matter was before the court and also under investigation.

The Vyapam scam involves the forgery, impersonation, bribery and cheating committed by Madhya Pradesh Professional Exam Board officials in this process of the selection of candidates.

There has been a number of deaths associated with the scam. For a visual representation of the death incidents, click here.

(With inputs from PTI)