Vyapam Scam-Accused Nitin Mahindra Recorded Payoffs on Excel Docs
In this 2nd of a 3-part investigation by The Quint,we show the brazenness with which some of the scam accused acted
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The Quint’s expose unravels the money trail in the Vyapam scam. The trail starts with the students looking for out-of-turn admissions who fork out money to middlemen, who in turn pay their political bosses. In this second of the three-part investigation, we show the brazenness with which some of the accused acted. One of them left behind details of money received on Excel documents.
- Money trail marked out by Excel documents
- STF investigation was shoddy; they may have gone soft on IAS officers
An Excel sheet document that one of the principle scam masterminds, Nitin Mahindra, who was senior systems analyst in Vyapam, maintained and was later discovered by the Special Task Force (STF) once the lid on the scandal blew off in July 2013, shows that Pankaj Trivedi, the former director and controller of examinations, collected Rs 75 lakhs between July 7, 2012, and August 1, 2012.
This amount was presumably paid to Mahindra who recorded that on July 7, 2012, Trivedi paid up Rs 20 lakh. Four days later, he handed over Rs 5 lakh. The following day he paid Rs 2 lakh, while on July 28, 2012, he paid Rs 43 lakh. Trivedi’s last contribution for the period recorded in the Excel sheet was of Rs 5 lakh made on August 1 that year.
Special Task Force Has Several Documents Showing Money Trail
This is by no means the only record that Mahindra prepared which is in the possession of the STF. There are several others. Likewise, the STF is said to have seized from Vyapam’s computer hard disks and laptops belonging to the other kingpins, meticulous details of transactions among themselves as well as records of kickbacks paid to ministers and BJP MLAs and RSS leaders in the state.
Mahindra’s Excel sheet shows a person named “Shobby” owed him Rs 5 lakh and a senior IPS officer R K Shivhare (under suspension since last year) had paid Rs 5 lakh while Rs 10 lakh is shown to be the due bribe amount. Mahindra was to recover a total of Rs 110 lakh from an Indore-based scam kingpin Dr Jagdish Sagar, who is suspected to have masterminded the January 7, 2012, murder of a 19-year-old MBBS student Namrata Damor near Ujjain, While Dr Sagar had paid up Rs 30 lakh, he owed Mahindra Rs 80.
The document, marked by the STF as a “true copy” and duly signed by a deputy superintendent of police, shows that Mahindra sought to “recover old” dues to the tune of Rs 195 lakh from five persons, including “Shivhare” and “Jagdish”, while the total amounts under the heads “received” and “balance” were Rs 105 lakh and Rs 95 lakh, respectively.
STF Investigation Was Inefficient; Were They Soft on IAS Officers?
The STF’s investigation so far has not only been shoddy and inefficient, but allegations have been made by several MP Congress leaders, including Rajya Sabha member Digvijaya Singh, that the probe team has unduly soft on a host of IAS officers who headed the various departments under Vyapam and who are suspected to have benefitted from the scam. For instance, the STF has turned former Vyapam secretary Ranjana Chaudhary as an approver although it should have proceeded against her criminally.
“As an independent MLA in 2009, I had first raised matter about huge irregularities in Vyapam. Subsequently, I have brought to light the deep involvement in the scam of senior BJP leaders in Madhya Pradesh as well as of several IAS officers. But the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government took no step to investigate the scandal,” Paras Saklecha, one of the first of many whistleblowers told The Quint on July 12.
Part One of the investigation looks at how the Vyapam scam has dwarfed all other scams.
Part Three shows that the going rate for a college seat was anywhere between Rs 10-20 lakh, and Rs 40-50 lakh for low-level government job.
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