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NRHM fraud case: Accused’s death prima facie a murder, says CBI
Dr Sachan was the key accused in the fraud and also a key suspect in the murders of two chief medical officers (CMOs), Dr Vinod Kumar Arya and his successor Dr BP Singh, in a similar manner.
The case of over ₹10,000 crore fraud in the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) in Uttar Pradesh (between 2007 and 2012) has become murkier with the court of the special judicial magistrate, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) terming the June 20, 2011 custodial death of deputy chief medical officer (family welfare) Dr YS Sachan murder and not suicide after taking into account several documents submitted by the deceased’s wife in court.
Dr Sachan was the key accused in the fraud and also a key suspect in the murders of two chief medical officers (CMOs), Dr Vinod Kumar Arya and his successor Dr BP Singh, in a similar manner.
Dr Arya was targeted by assailants when he was on a morning walk near his house in Vikas Nagar on October 27, 2010 while Dr BP Singh was targeted by assailants when he was on a morning walk near his house in Vijayant Khand, Gomti Nagar on April 2, 2011.
The larger fraud investigation is looking into the alleged role of top politicians, including ministers under the then ruling Bahujan Samaj Party-led government, and bureaucrats in siphoning off an estimated amount of ₹10,000 crore from the NRHM, a central government scheme meant to improve the health care delivery system in rural areas. At least three persons are believed to have been murdered in an attempt to cover up the probe. Several former ministers are being interrogated by the CBI.
The police believe Dr Sachan’s death ruled out the chance of unravelling names of others involved in the fraud and the murders.
Samriddhi Mishra, special judicial magistrate, CBI court, in her July 11 order pointed out that Malti Sachan submitted post-mortem report (of Dr Sachan), opinion of medical experts and statements of doctors who had performed the autopsy to prove her charges (that Dr Sachan was murdered).
The then chief judicial magistrate Rajesh Upadhyaya had carried out the probe into Dr Sachan’s death. Dr Sachan’s body was recovered from an under-construction toilet on the first floor of Lucknow jail hospital. His body was found sitting on a commode facing the cistern with the belt around his neck. The belt was tied somewhere in the window around 4.5 feet high from the floor of the toilet.
The deceased’s body bore many injury marks (including several cuts), but the police did not make any effort to find out the cause of death. Instead, it was satisfied by the intimation sent by the jail authorities that it was a case of suicide.
The probe found that it was almost impossible for a person to inflict so many deep incision marks while sitting on a commode and die in the same position.
At around 3.5 feet, two blood spots of 6 cm and 12 cm were found on the wall, indicating that the person who tied the belt with the grill must have left marks while doing do, the probe added.
The toilet basin was found removed from the original position. And no weapons that could have inflicted the cuts were found. Half of a safety razor blade was found but the probe noted that doctors ruled out the possibility of deep cuts of the sort found on the body being caused by it.
Dr Ashutosh Kumar Dubey, medical Superintendent, Balrampur Hospital, Lucknow, stated before the chief judicial magistrate that though at least 100 post-mortem examinations were conducted till date, he had not found any case where a person might have cut so many nerves to commit suicide. Cuts on both sides of the body point towards an extraordinary circumstance, he said.
Dr Mausmi Singh, lecturer in Forensic Medicine and Toxicology Department, Chhatrapati Shahuji Maharaj University, Lucknow (now KGMU), also stated that these injuries were inflicted by a sharp-edged heavy weapon, and that normally, no person committing suicide could or would inflict so many injuries on himself.
According to Dr Malti Sachan, her husband was right-handed. Under normal circumstances, a right-handed person would inflict deep injuries on the left side and not on the right, as in this case.
Circumstances and other evidence prove it was a murder, the magistrate said, adding that the contradictory statements during the judicial probe raised suspicion about the role of jailer BS Mukund, deputy jailer Sunil Kumar Singh, chief jail guard Babu Ram Dubey and jail guard Pahendra Singh in the entire episode.
