Oppn demands CBI probe into UP deputy CMO's death

Opposition parties in Uttar Pradesh on Thursday demanded a Central Bureau of Investigation probe into the mysterious death of a deputy chief medical officer in Lucknow jail, alleging that the ruling Bahujan Samaj Party was shielding the guilty as its leaders were involved in the case.

The main opposition Samajwadi Party on Thursday alleged that Y S Sachan, the main accused in the CMO B P Singh murder case, was murdered to save former ministers of the ruling BSP and said that only a Central Bureau of Investigation inquiry can expose the real culprits.

"There have been a series of scams in the state and now the mysterious death of the deputy CMO appears to be a conspiracy to keep the names of the real culprits under cover," said Leader of Opposition in the Vidhan Sabha and senior SP leader Shivpal Singh Yadav.

SP state president Akhilesh Yadav alleged that Sachan was done away with "to save two former ministers of the Mayawati government" who were involved in a scam.

"We demand a CBI probe into the matter as the state government and its officers are trying every trick to hush-up the case which is connected to the chief minister's office," he said.

He also asked the Supreme Court to take suo-motu cognisance of the matter.

Both the leaders also slammed Chief Minister Mayawati for the spurt in crimes against women in the state and urged Governor B L Joshi to dismiss the government.

The Bharatiya Janata Party, meanwhile, said that the state government was out to "shield the corrupt" by proving Sachan's death as a suicide case.

"Sachan was an accused in the CMO B P Singh murder case which had led to the removal of two ministers... Sachan might have been out to spill the beans which could have been the reason of his mysterious death," vice president of BJP, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, told reporters in Lucknow.

Naqvi claimed that for the last four years the Mayawati government was using criminals to hide its "misdeeds".

"This government is out to shield criminals and the corrupt to hide its own misdeeds and Sachan's murder is a clear example," Naqvi said.

Meanwhile, the state Congress unit has announced that the party would stage demonstrations across the state on June 25 to press for a CBI inquiry into CMO B P Singh's murder.

"We will stage demonstrations at all district headquarters on June 25 to press for a CBI inquiry into the CMO B P Singh murder case and to demand dismissal of the state government," party spokesman Subdoh Srivastava said.

He said that on June 27 the party will also take out a 'Nyaya Yatra' in the state capital which will led by UP Pradesh Congress Committee president Rita Bahuguna Joshi.

Sachan, the main accused in the murder of Chief Medical Officer (Family Welfare) B P Singh, was found dead under mysterious circumstances on Wednesday night inside the Lucknow district jail hospital.