Shivraj summons police brass after midnight crackdown sparks rights violation cry

BHOPAL: Two days after the special task force launched a midnight crackdown on medical students embroiled in the PMT scam and bundled them into buses to Bhopal, chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan summoned the police brass and sought an explanation amidst cries of human rights violations in state. He hauled up senior police officers for their high-handedness at a 40-minute closed-door meeting, sources told TOI.
Chief secretary Antony J C De'Sa, principal secretary (law), director general of police (DGP) Nandan Kumar Dubey and additional director general, special task force, Sudhir Sahi, were present at the meeting.
Chouhan asked ADG Sushir Sahi to leave the meeting within 10 seconds.
"I had never interfered investigations even when high profile people were arrested. Why are these students being arrested like this?. They could have been questioned at their home and arrested if it was necessary," Chouhan reportedly roared expressing concern over the way students and their parents were whisked away by cops and pushed into small, dingy lockups. He sought an explanation from the police brass on the sudden crackdown and asked officers to ensure that innocent students are not detained, arrested or harassed during investigation.
Chouhan asked them to take appropriate action against those actually involved in the scam. He instructed officers to adhere to high court's deadline on submission of status report on the multi-layered investigations into Madhya Pradesh Professional Board (PEB) scam.
While rejecting a bunch of petitions for CBI inquiry, Jabalpur bench of Madhya Pradesh high court ordered STF to submit weekly status report on investigations into fraud in different recruitment examinations conducted by PEB since 2006. STF will have to submit its next status report on June 30.
DGP apprised Chouhan on the status of probe and said STF is likely to arrest 100 more people in connection with 2012 and 2013 PMT scam. He said all arrests were made after collecting digital and documentary evidence.
STF has taken over investigations of 60 cases, related to PEB scam, registered at different police stations across state. Charge-sheets have already been filed in 16 cases registered in police stations of Indore, Gwalior, Bhopal and Rewa districts. STF will carry out fresh investigation in all these cases and connect the dots, the chief minister was told.
In the biggest state wide crackdown on medical students who cracked the PMT examination through fraudulent means, 200 students, including 27 girls were picked up on Tuesday and Wednesday. The detentions came within 24 hours of DGP Nandan Kumar Dubey's instruction to IGs and SPs to arrest students in their respective areas. While many got bail, a few were sent to jail after they failed to arrange for a personal bond.
More than 400 students figure in the STF charge sheet, whose entrance tests were answered by impersonators and kickbacks paid to board officials in the biggest education scam to hit the state in 2012 and 2013.