CBI says Dy CMO committed suicide, row rages

A huge controversy continues to rage over the mysterious death of Lucknow deputy chief medical officer (CMO) YS Sachan who was found hanging from a leather belt in the toilet of the Lucknow district jail on June 22 last year.

The CBI, which is probing the Rs6,000 crore National Rural health Mission (NRHM) scam in UP, has stated before the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court that Sachan’s death was indeed a suicide. However, petitioners in the PILs filed in the NRHM scam in the high court have disputed the investigation agency’s claim, and even alleged that the CBI was working under pressure to shield some top officials.

In its 130-page closure report submitted in the high court on Friday, the CBI said it had found no evidence to prove that Sachan’s death was a murder, and even the forensic experts had concluded that it was indeed a case of suicide. The CBI has recommended departmental action against four officers, including the then IG (jail) VK Gupta, IPS.

The CBI’s report carries statements of as many as 111 people connected with the incident in some way or the other.
They include the then principal secretary (home) Fateh Bahadur Singh, then IG (jail) VK Gupta, then district magistrate Anil Sagar, and then district police chief DK Thakur.

However, the main petitioner in the case Sachidanand Gupta says the agency is working under pressure and is trying to shield the guilty. “The post-mortem report and the report of the Lucknow chief judicial magistrate had clearly indicated that it was a murder and not a suicide,” he said.

Gupta said the CBI had filed its closure report in a similar manner in the Arushi Talwar case, too, but had to conduct fresh investigation after the court got tough. “The way CBI has filed its closure report raises doubts over the CBI’s conduct,” he said, adding: “We will file our objections before the court.”

Another petitioner in the case, Prince Lenin, advocate, also said the CBI was not working as an independent agency and was controlled by the Central government.

The matter will be taken up for hearing on October 16.
Sachan, a key figure in the embezzlement of several hundred crores of NRHM funds, was accused in the murder of two CMOs. He was alleged to have plotted the murders of Lucknow CMO VK Arya in October 2010, and then his successor BP Singh in April last year.

Sachan’s family had alleged foul play and demanded a CBI inquiry into the matter. His wife Malini had written to then chief minister Mayawati alleging that her husband was murdered to shield the higher-ups involved in the NRHM scam.