The CBI has summoned 18 people, including senior government officials, for interrogation in the National Rural Health Mission scam to Delhi on Monday. Those who have been summoned include officials and contractors whose offices and residences were raided in connection with the NRHM scam earlier this week.
The officials who have been summoned to the New Delhi office of the CBI include senior IAS officer Pradeep Shukla, PACFED MD V.K. Choudhury, former CMD of UPPCL Devendra Mohan, Nehru Yuva Kendra convenor D.K. Singh and former MLA and BSP leader Ashok Bajpai. During the raid, the agency had seized several documents from the residences of the state officials and contractors and even found property worth over `8 crores and `75 lakhs in cash from the residence of D.K. Singh, the convenor of the Nehru Yuva Kendra, Singh, considered very close to an influential senior IAS officer, has gone underground after the CBI raid and the agency has issued a red corner search for him and his family members.
According to sources, the CBI could arrest some of these officials and contractors after interrogation on Monday. Five officials, including former DG (family welfare) S.P. Ram are in jail in connection with the scam. Meanwhile, the CBI has also started examining the recent report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) on NRHM. The agency is likely to register more “preliminary enquiries” (PEs) based on the findings of the CAG report on the NRHM. The agency has already registered five PEs to probe irregularities in the implementation of Centrally-sponsored scheme in the state.