By IANS,
New Delhi : With another official of the Uttar Pradesh health department found dead, the Bharatiya Janata Party Thursday said the CBI should protect those who know vital information related to the multi-crore National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) scam.
BJP leader Balbir Punj said those at the highest echelons were involved in the pilferage of NHRM funds.
“People who could have given some information about the NRHM scam are either killed or forced to commit suicide. This is clearly to wipe out all evidence,” Punj said Thursday.
In a fresh turn to the multi-crore rural health scheme scam, a state health department official who was missing since Feb 7 was found dead, the fifth death related to the case, police said Thursday.
Mahendra Sharma, an accounting clerk in the health department, was found lying in a pool of blood at a health centre in Lakhimpur Kheri. Police said it appeared Sharma had committed suicide.
“Mr. Sharma was an important link, why he was not given proper protection,” Punj said.
“Even now CBI must take over and give proper protection to people who can lead investigator to the root of this scam…” Punj said. “People who were capable of committing a scam of this magnitude are highly placed people, and CBI should see it.”
He added that agencies in Uttar Pradesh could not be trusted for conducting the post-mortem examination of Sharma.
“You cannot trust anyone in Uttar Pradesh. Powerful people who can kill one witness after another can change post-mortem report also. CBI should take the charge,” Punj said.
Sharma’s son alleged that his father’s body bore injury marks on the head. “He was murdered,” he claimed.
Sharma’s death was the fifth in the Rs.10,000 crore National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) scam in Uttar Pradesh, relating to alleged financial irregularities in the supply of medicines and medical equipment. The scam is being probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation. Earlier, two chief medical officers, a deputy chief medical officer, and a project manager linked to the scam were found dead.