NRHM scam: Role of Kushwaha's wife under CBI scanner

The Central Bureau of Investigation has examined former Uttar Pradesh Minister Babu Singh Kushwaha's wife in connection with alleged swindling of funds in the National Rural Health Mission.

Kushwaha's wife Shivkanya, who is the director of one of the trusts, which was allegedly used to launder the illegal gratification received for awarding contracts in the NRHM, has been questioned with regard to financial transactions undertaken by her trust, CBI sources said.

The agency is now focusing on the money trail of alleged bribes received by Kushwaha, the minister of family welfare in the then Mayawati government, MLA Ram Prasad Jaiswal and former family welfare secretary Pradeep Shukla in the multi-crore NRHM case, they said.

The sources said they have so far unearthed money trail of nearly Rs 40 crore which were allegedly laundered through shell companies and trusts managed by the family members of Kushwaha and Jaiswal.

The agency sources said the Kanpur-based trust in which Shivkanya was a director was allegedly used for routing the money. They said in her statement Shivkanya has denied allegations of any wrongdoing by her or her trust.

CBI scrutiny of the trusts' accounts has shown a number of "unexplained" transactions, which, the agency has found, were alleged bribes routed through various companies, they claimed.

The money was allegedly planned for setting up of an engineering college under the trust, the sources claimed. They claimed Kushwaha, who is in judicial custody, had set up two educational trusts in Kanpur and purchased two private companies to route the alleged illegal gratification.

The sources said that the alleged bribe received by Kushwaha was first invested in companies across Kanpur, Delhi and Kolkata, which issued cheques to the two trusts as donation.

Some of the money was also allegedly invested in Kushwaha's companies which was again given as donation to the educational trust, they alleged.