PEB accused Banti found hanging, no autopsy done

BHOPAL: Banti Sikarwar, 29, a school dropout, was found hanging from the ceiling of his home in Gole ka Mandir locality, Gwalior, on January 21, 2014. He was booked by STF in the Vyapam scam in 2013 for arranging scorers for pre-medical test. Police called it suicide, but his family cries foul play.
And even CBI which has been entrusted with the job to probe mysterious deaths by Supreme Court will find it difficult join the dots as no autopsy was conducted.This, despite the fact he was an accused in the multi-layered scam.
Banti's family are demanding a thorough probe into his death. His grandmother Savitri Bai said, "Banti was too illiterate to be involved in any admission scam." Banti's name cropped up in STF list after Pankaj Singh Tomar, a 2009 batch student of Gajra Raja Medical College (GRMC), Gwalior, named him in his statement to SIT, Gwalior. Tomar was arrested in 2013. Police said, he was impersonated by another student in PMT-2009.
During interrogation, Tomar revealed Banti was a mediator between him and the gang that provided him with a proxy. Two months later, Banti died mysteriously. And SIT, Gwalior, could not investigate Tomar's case any further.
"Because of Banti's death, our investigations came to a standstill. Further linkages could not be traced," said an SIT officer.
Talking to TOI, Banti's grandmother, Savitri, refuted charges of investigating officers that Banti had links with racketeers from Gwalior-Chambal region in MP and Uttar Pradesh. "Cops didn't come before his death, but after he committed suicide, they told us that he is an accused in the scam."
"Banti's death has snapped the chain of scamsters. It's easy for police to say the case cannot be investigated further, but they have not even tried to link his death with the scam. It could be a suicide driven by personal issues, but it could also be abetted by those involved. His death should be investigated," she said.