NRHM scam claims fifth life, UP health official murdered

The National Rural Health Mission scam in Uttar Pradesh has turned murkier with another health official found murdered at his home, the fifth victim in the last one year after the alleged bungling of over Rs.10,000 crore of central funds surfaced.

The UP police found the body of Mahendra Sharma, an accountant, lying in a pool of blood with severe injuries on his head and face, from the Pasgawan health centre area in Lakhimpur Kheri district on Thursday evening. Fifty-two-year-old Sharma has been reported missing since February 7, the police said.

For Rediff Realtime News click here

The Central Bureau of Investigation, which is probing the scam, has asked the state police to beef up security of witnesses and suspects. In 2010-11, two senior doctors associated with the health department were murdered within months of each other. Another official was found dead in a Lucknow jail. In January, a UP Jal Nigam officer allegedly committed suicide because he was being investigated in connection with the scam.

As the news of another murder spread, the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party slammed the Mayawati government, accusing it of actively colluding in the "massive bungling".

Congress star campaigner Priyanka Gandhi accused the Mayawati government of misuse of funds meant for improvement of health facilities in the state. BJP spokesperson Ravishankar Prasad said, "The larger issue is the liability of Mayawati herself as the chief minister and the earlier regime of Mulayam Singh Yadav because the entire scam was spread over the last seven to eight years."

Family members of the accountant have accused health department officials of harassment. Mithilesh Sharma, the wife of the deceased, said that frequent transfers of her husband had depressed him. She also accused health officials of withholding his salary.

Mithilesh alleged that after solemnising their daughter's marriage on November 21 last, when Sharma reported for duty in Pasgawan, he was told about his another transfer. Meanwhile, the CBI in New Delhi denied having questioned Sharma in connection with the probe. "The CBI has neither questioned nor summoned this person. CBI is in close touch with local police regarding safety concerns of potential witnesses, suspects, etc," a CBI spokesperson said.