The Mayawati government, on Wednesday, recommended a CBI inquiry into the murders of two CMOs and also the financial scam in the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) funds. The decision, taken late in the evening, came after the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court, acting on a petition filed by a local lawyer, issued a
notice on Wednesday to the state government asking why a CBI probe should not be ordered into the murders of two CMOs and the NRHM scam. The case has been listed for hearing on July 22.
The government’s recommendation for a CBI probe is apparently a move to pre-empt the court order to the same effect. A similar situation had been seen last week when the Mayawati government recommended a CBI probe into the killing of deputy CMO Dr Y.S. Sachan in Lucknow jail and the high court also ordered the CBI to probe the case.
It may be recalled that CMO Vinod Arya had been shot dead during his morning walk near his residence in Vikas Nagar in Lucknow on October 27, 2010, and his successor V.P. Singh met a similar fate on April 2 when he was shot dead during morning walk in Gomti Nagar area. Seven health officials, including deputy CMO Y.S. Sachan, were arrested for their alleged involvement in the financial scam of NRHM funds which apparently led to the two murders. Two senior ministers, Babu Singh Kushwaha and Anant Misra, were asked to resign owning moral responsibility for the scam that led to the killings.
Later, the state government blamed Dr Sachan for the conspiracy behind the CMO murders.