Lucknow CMO murder accused found dead in jail

Exactly five days after he was named as the key accused Chief Medical Officer Dr B P Singh's murder case in Lucknow, jailed deputy chief medical officer Dr Y S Sachan was found dead under mysterious circumstances inside the Lucknow district jail on Wednesday evening.

While officials were tight-lipped on the issue, informed sources said that Sachan was found hanging from a ceiling fan in the jail hospital, where he happened to be the only inmate.

Rumour were abound that Sachan, who had been involved in large scale bungling of funds under the National Rural Health Mission, used his belt for hanging himself from the ceiling.

Jail sources claimed that the hospital bed sheet was used for the hanging.

Sachan was facing charges of not only masterminding Singh's murder, but for also giving money for what was officially termed as "contract killing."

Sachan's death is the third in a succession over alleged bungling with NRHM funds in Uttar Pradesh.

Prior to Singh, who was gunned down just outside his residence in Luknow's posh Gomati Nagar locality on April 2, his predecessor,  Dr Vinod Arya was also shot by masked motor-cyclists outside his home on October 2010.

Awarding of huge contracts for supply of goods and equipment under the centrally funded National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) and large scale financial bungling were officially stated to be the cause behind both the murders.

However, key opposition leaders were not ready to buy the suicide theory.

"This is cold-blooded murder", said Samajwadi Party state president Akhilesh Yadav, who alleged, "The top people in the Mayawati government are responsible for the murder."

He demanded a Central Bureau of Investigation probe into the incident. State Congress president Rita Bahuguna Joshi was also of the same view.