Accused in medical officer’s murder dies in jail
June 23rd, 2011 - 12:26 am ICT by IANSLucknow, June 22 (IANS) Exactly five days after he was named as the key accused in Lucknow chief medical officer B.P. Singh’s murder, jailed deputy chief medical officer Y.S. Sachan was found dead in mysterious circumstances inside the Lucknow district jail late Wednesday evening.
While officials were tight-lipped on the issue, informed sources said that Sachan was found hanging from a ceiling fan in the jail hospital, where he happened to be the only inmate.
Rumour mills were churning out stories that the deputy CMO, who had been involved in large scale bungling of funds under the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM), used his belt for hanging himself from the ceiling. Sources in jail however claimed that the hospital bed sheet was used for the hanging.
Sachan was facing charges of not only masterminding Singh’s murder but for also giving money for what was officially termed as “contract killing.”
Sachan’s death is the third one in succession over alleged bungling in NRHM funds in Uttar Pradesh.
Prior to Singh, who was gunned down during the course of his routine morning walk just outside his residence in Luknow’s posh Gomati Nagar locality on April 2, his predecessor Vinod Arya was also shot by masked motor-cyclists, just as he stepped out of his home for his morning walk in October 2010.
Award of huge contracts for supply of goods and equipment under the centrally funded National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) and large scale financial bungling were officially stated to be the cause behind both the murders.
However, key opposition leaders were not ready to buy the government’s “suicide” theory.
“This is cold-blooded murder,” said Samajwadi Party state president Akhilesh Yadav, who went on to add, “and none other than top people in the Mayawati government were responsible for the murder in jail.”
He demanded a CBI probe into the incident.
State Congress president Rita Bahuguna Joshi also clearly saw the hand of “people in the government” in the crime. She said, “the truth can only be unravelled if the case is handed over to CBI.”
Senior BJP leader Kalraj Misra sought a high level judicial probe into the case.
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Tags: akhilesh yadav, b p singh, cbi probe, cold blooded murder, congress president, district jail, giving money, joshi, lucknow district, medical officer, motor cyclists, mysterious circumstances, national rural health, national rural health mission, opposition leaders, Samajwadi Party, state congress, state president, suicide theory, wednesday evening