By IANS,
Bhopal : A former Madhya Pradesh health minister and six others are being investigated for corruption in two cases of drug purchase by the special police establishment of Lokayukta here, an official said.
Lokayukta found that former minister Ajay Vashnoi and six others, including two IAS officers – Principal Secretary M.M. Upadhyaya and Secretary Rajesh Rajora – unnecessarily purchased the drugs to benefit a private company.
In 2007, medicines worth Rs.3.2 million and streptomycin (anti-TB drug) of Rs.3.7 million were purchased by these persons, the official added.
Both cases were being investigated and registered on the basis of a complaint lodged by social activist Indira Iyengar.
Ajay Vashnoi of the Bharatiya Janata Party resigned as the state’s health minister before his tenure ended when he was named in the two corruption cases. He later contested the elections to the state assembly and won, but was not included in the ministerial team of Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.
The other officers named in the cases are: Directors in the health department Yogiraj Sharma and Ashok Sharma, joint director Ashok Veerang and administrative officer M.S. Mathur.