New Delhi, July 18 (IANS): The CBI on Saturday registered a preliminary inquiry into the deaths of nine people allegedly linked with examinations conducted by Vyapam in Madhya Pradesh over the last few years.

The Central Bureau of Investigation will also probe the state police's alleged inaction pertaining to these deaths, official sources said.

The preliminary inquiry was registered to examine whether the deaths were a fallout of the Vyapam scam, they said.

Anand Singh, Ashutosh Tiwari, Gyan Singh, Ananta Ram Tagore, Ravindra Prakash Singh, Prem Lata Pandey, Vikas Pandey, Rajendra Arya and Sanjay Kumar Yadav died under mysterious circumstances as the case was being investigated, but police failed to take any action, the sources added.

As many as 48 people -- allegedly connected with the examination and recruitment in Vyapam or the Madhya Pradesh Vyavsayik Pareeksha Mandal -- have died in recent years. The scam was earlier being probed by a Special Investigation Team, but was recently entrusted to the CBI by the Supreme Court.