Meghna Pandey, wife of Vyapam scam whistle-blower Prashant Pandey
The wife of Vyapam whistle-blower Prashant Pandey was detained by the Indore police on Saturday evening from her workplace on suspicion of carrying Hawala money. She was released after being questioned for a few hours and the police seizing Rs 9.96 lakh from her.
"Today we had got a tip-off from our informer about a Hawala transaction near Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, so a police team from Sanyogitaganj police station went to the spot. There they came across a woman with a bag. On going through the bag we found Rs 9.96 lakh, the woman who told us she is Meghna Pandey had no clear answer about the money so we detained her and are investigating the case. We have seized the cash as we suspect it may be Hawala Money," Indore Police said in a WhatsApp message to journalists.
Ms Pandey, meanwhile, denies any wrongdoing. "That money was for buying a property, it's not Hawala money. I am innocent," she said.
Mr Pandey, a forensic expert, became a whistleblower in July last year and claims to have evidence of Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and his family's involvement in the Vyapam or exam scam - a multi-crore scam that involved government officials accepting bribes for offering government jobs to candidates appearing in competitive exams.
He was arrested by the police in August last year and booked under IT Act and forgery; Mr Pandey was released on bail a few days later. The police alleged that he used to sell call details of individuals for a hefty price. But Mr Pandey has been alleging that the state government and Mr Chouhan has been targeting him and his family as he has spoken the truth and exposed the people involved in the Vyapam scam.