NEW DELHI (TIP): Two months after it took over the investigation in the multi-layered Vyapam (Vyavsayik Pariksha Mandal) scam, CBI sleuths on Thursday conducted raids at around 40 places in Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.

Searches were also conducted at the residences of MP’s former BJP minister Laxmikant Mishra; former Vyapam system analyst Nitin Mahindra; Dhanraj Yadav, former officer on special duty to MP Governor Ram Naresh Yadav, in Lucknow, alleged mastermind Jagadish Sagar and several others.

“We have conducted searches relating to Vyapam cases in around 40 places in Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. In MP, the searches were conducted in the districts of Bhopal, Indore, Gwalior, Ujjain, Jabalpur and Rewa; the headquarters of Vyapam in Bhopal and in Sironj in Vidisha district. In Uttar Pradesh, the searches were conducted in Lucknow and Allahabad,” a senior CBI official overseeing the probe said.

The searches hinted at an alleged nexus between politicians and high-placed officials in receiving bribes from the job-seekers to clear Madhya Pradesh Professional Examination Board or Vyapam examinations. The Supreme Court, which  had directed the CBI to take over the probe on July 9, has sought a status report by October 9.