Maya orders CBI probe into CMO murders

Slammed by the high court, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati on Wednesday ordered a CBI probe into the murder of two chief medical officers of Lucknow.

She also referred to the Central Bureau of Investigation the entire case of alleged large scale bungling in the Rs 3000 crore National Rural Health Mission, which is seen as the root cause for the murders. Two chief medical officers of the state capital and one deputy chief medical officer were murdered in October 2010 and June 2011 in Lucknow.

Barely six hours after the Lucknow bench of Allahabad High Court asked the state government , "Why not a CBI probe into the murder of two other CMOs," Mayawati was propelled to take a quick decision to do so herself.

The chief minister's decision came in exactly the same manner it was done in case of the murder of jailed Lucknow deputy CMO Dr Y S Sachan, who was found dead under mysterious circumstances inside the Lucknow district prison on June 22. Even then it was just about 15 hours after the high court reserved its judgement on a PIL seeking a CBI probe into Sachan's murder that the chief minister announced her decision to refer the case to the CBI on July 14.

Wednesday's observation by the court came after a PIL was moved by lawyer Prince Lenin, who sought a CBI inquiry into the murders of CMOs Dr B P Singh as well as his predecessor Dr Vinod Arya. Even as both murders were committed over a span of six months, both Singh and Arya were gunned down in almost similar circumstances – during their morning walk very close to their residence in Lucknow's posh localities.

The division bench comprising Justice Pradeep Kant and Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi also ordered a CBI probe into the alleged large scale bungling in the centrally funded Rs. 3000-crore National Rural Health Mission programme in a separate PIL moved by local journalist Sachchidanand Gupta.

The government decision comes in sharp contrast to its earlier stand of opposing any CBI intervention in all these cases. The U-turn followed only after the high court expressed its displeasure with the shoddy investigations carried out by the state police and its agencies.