If the CBI investigation reveals that Mahendra Sharma and Sunil Verma had roles in the NRHM scam, the agency will definitely approach the competent authority for transfer of these two cases to the Central probe agency, sources said.
Mahendra Sharma, a clerk with the UP health department who went missing on February 7, was found dead under mysterious circumstances in Lakhimpur district on Wednesday evening. Sunil Verma, a UP Jal Nigam project manager who handled NRHM projects, allegedly committed suicide.
The agency is already probing three murder cases related to implementation of the NRHM in Lucknow. The CBI is probing the murder of Dr V.K. Arya and Dr B.P. Singh. Both CMOs were shot in Lucknow within a period of six months. The mysterious death of Dy CMO Y.S. Sachan, who was an accused in both the murder cases and NRHM irregularities in the Lucknow CMO’s office, is also being probed by the CBI. The CBI, which has so far registered eight cases in the NRHM scam, is set to question top state politicians next week. The Lakhimpur police is tight-lipped about the circumstances in which Sharma’s body was found. The DIG and other police officials switched off their mobile phones on Thursday and did not respond to queries from the media.
ADG (law and order) Subesh Kumar Singh told this correspondent in Lucknow that Sharma used to live alone at the CHC quarters while his family lived at the district headquarters in Lakhimpur. The ADG, however, denied that the death could be linked to the NRHM scam. “At the moment there is no evidence to link this to NRHM,” he said.
According to reports, Sharma had been suspended from his job for not signing some important files related to NRHM. He had been transferred thrice in recent months and had not received his salary for the past six months. Sources said that last month he had written a letter to the CMO’s office about the pressures on him but the CMO, Dr J.P. Bhargava, denied having any information about the letter.
A family member said on condition of anonymity, “He (Sharma) was under tremendous mental pressure since the past several days and he told his family that he was being pressured to sign some files related to NRHM. We suspected foul play when he did not return home on February 7 but the police did not seem interested in searching for him. On Wednesday night, Sharma’s son was informed that his father’s body has been found inside his house.”
The post-mortem was conducted on Thursday evening and the entire proceedings were video-recorded by the district administration and also by a private videographer hired by the family of the deceased. This is the sixth death related to the NRHM scam in UP.