UP scam: CBI raids Kushwaha, others

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The CBI, probing alleged irregularities in implementing the multi-crore National Rural Health Mission in Uttar Pradesh, on Wednesday conducted searches at over 60 places in New Delhi, UP, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh. Searches were also held at the homes of former UP family welfare minister Babu Singh Kushwaha (who was inducted into the BJP on Tuesday), BSP MLA Ram Prasad Jaiswal and two former state directors-general health R.R. Bharti and S.P. Ram.
The agency conducted the searches after filing five cases on Monday in which Mr Kushwaha and Mr S.P. Ram were named as accused. Sources said searches were also held at the homes of top executives of some private companies in Lucknow, Moradabad, Ghaziabad, Delhi, Amethi, Agra, Sonepat and Gwalior.
The CBI also arrested P.K. Jain, GM, UP Jal Nigam, on Wednesday night. This is the third arrest in the NRHM scam.
Wednesday’s raids have added to the woes of Mr Kushwaha, once a close confidant of UP chief minister Mayawati, with some leaders of the BJP openly opposing his entry into the party. UP BJP leader I.P. Singh called the move a “blunder”, while state party spokesman Vijay Bahadur Pathak said: “The BJP will not support any corrupt person. We’ll let the law take its own course.”
UP CLP leader Pramod Tiwari sought an “inquiry into whether any money from the NRHM scam changed hands” to facilitate Mr Kushwaha’s induction into the BJP.