Ex BJP minister tried to get his daughter a medical seat, says former OSD

BHOPAL: Former BJP minister Laxmikant Sharma's officer on special duty (OSD) O P Shukla had allegedly recommended the name of the minister's daughter to the then MPPEB exam controller Pankaj Trivedi, a key accused. This explosive input is based on data recovered from hard-disk of MPPEB's chief system analyst, Nitin Mohindra, sources told TOI.
Shukla was arrested by special task force (STF) last week in connection with the scam in which 175 students allegedly used fraudulent means to get admission.Of the 175, STF has identified 14 students whose optical mark reader (OMR) sheets were manipulated by scamsters.
"They arrested me because my name was found in Mohindra's data-sheet as a mediator for his (Laxmikant Sharma) daughter, anyhow she failed," Shukla told the reporters while he was produced in court on Thursday. Shukla also told STF the minister would directly hand over the list of aspiring doctors to the then MPPEB exam controller, Pankaj Trivedi.
Trivedi too has named the former minister Laxmikant Sharma as a mastermind. But, the minister claims he is a victim of a political vendetta.
One of his associates told TOI the former minister would forward the list of candidates recommended by other ministers, who are yet to be named.
Sharma was booked along with 129 others, including Dhanraj Yadav, officer on special duty (OSD) to Governor Ram Naresh Yadav in the FIR on December 7 on charges of cheating and forgery in the temporary government school teachers' recruitment. This FIR was submitted to chief judicial magistrate Pankaj Maheshwari.
The former minister is also in the dock for giving Pankaj Trivedi the post of MPPEB exam controller even though he did not fulfill the eligibility criteria.
During questioning by STF, the minister refused to admit he demanded or accepted money from any candidate. Officers produced incriminating documents before him in support of the charges. They are now planning a one-on-one with PEB's chief system analyst Nitin Mohindra during the next round of questioning. STF has asked Sharma not to leave the county without intimation.