Vyapam ‘Whistleblower’: ‘Too many guards, they even follow me to toilet’

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Last week, he was given night security. This was after the police complained that he he had given the slip to his guards and reached Delhi by himself ahead of a deposition in a local court.

“My father has ostracised me, my friends and relatives have started avoiding me and object to my presence because the police give contradictory statements about my security,” Ashish told The Indian Express. “They have reduced me to a comic character and made me a source of entertainment.”

Ashish, who claims to have exposed big names in the Vyapam scam, said he often finds himself stretched for resources. While other whistleblowers flew to New Delhi to meet Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, Ashish missed out on meeting Rahul because he took a train. Along with others, he managed to meet Sonia and discuss a legislation for the protection of whistleblowers.

He claims that more than 140 guards have been changed since he was provided security for the first time; police put the number at around 90. Many guards said they gave up on him because they couldn’t keep pace with his speedy cycling and whimsical ways that often create awkward situations.

“I can’t help it if they are not trained, I am not trained either,” he said of his guards. He alleged he was beaten up and threatened in their presence several times. “What’s the point in having such security?”

Chaturvedi said he once spotted an absconding accused in a train and had to hide because he was travelling sleeper class while his guard was in an AC compartment. He said his guards treat the assignment as a “punishment posting”.

“There are two exits at his home and he often slips out. He complained about a threat to his life, so we have given him security for 24 hours,” Gwalior SP Harinarayanchari Mishra said.

Ashish, who has appeared in a Master in Social Work examination, has accused the police of torturing him in the name of security after he told a court that the role of the special investigation team, Gwalior, should also be probed.

His father, an employee with the education department, asked the guards to move into a room because they used to occupy the passage to the toilet.

A member of the RSS, he was disowned by the organisation after he started taking on big personalities. He is barred from entering the RSS office in Bhopal, though he recently attended a path sanchalan in Gwalior wearing the RSS uniform to prove his allegiance.