Judicial probe says Dr Sachan was murdered

LUCKNOW: In another embarrassment to the beleaguered Mayawati government, a judicial probe has confirmed that the Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Dr YS Sachan was murdered and it was not a case of suicide as was being claimed by the state government. Chief Judicial Magistrate, Rajesh Upadhyay submitted his probe report before the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court stating that Dr Sachan was murdered. The court is hearing a PIL seeking a CBI probe into the matter.

Dr Sachan was found dead on June 22, inside a toilet in the Lucknow jail where was imprisioned for alleged financial irregularities in the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) funds. He was also accused for orchestrating the murder of Chief Medical Officer Dr BP Singh in April. Dr Singh’s predecessor Dr Vinod Arya was also killed in the same manner in October 2010.

The spate of murders was related to the involvement of the mafia and powerful leaders of the ruling Bahujan Samaj Party in the multi crore NRHM contracts.

The family of Dr Sachan had claimed that he was murdered inside jail by some powerful people and had demanded a CBI probe.

The state government while refuting that it was a murder had claimed that Dr Sachan had committed suicide and also refused to order a CBI probe. The government instead ordered a judicial report while the family of Dr Sachan moved court for a CBI enquiry.

Meanwhile, another key figure former CMO AK Shukla was arrested by the police on Tuesday for financial bungling in NRHM funds. Related to a powerful leader of the BSP, the police had till now evaded either questioning or arresting Dr Shukla.