CBI confirms fifth NRHM murder, Mayawati faces heat

New Delhi: In a startling revelation in the multi-crore National Rural Health Mission  scam in Uttar Pradesh, the CBI has for the first time concluded that 55-year-old Mahendra Kumar Sharma, posted at a community health centre in Lakhimpuri  Kheri district, was allegedly murdered in 2012 at the behest of senior district health  officials. This could again heat up the politics in the poll-bound state, as the scam dates back to the regime of BSP supremo Mayawati.

The total tally of deaths in this scam was five, which included Sharma. As the news of Sharma’s death spread in 2012, the Congress and the BJP had slammed the Mayawati government, accusing it of collusion. According to CBI findings, smothering has been stated as the cause of death. The CBI’s final report was submitted on July 31 last month.

The multi-crore NRHM scam cases had come to light after two chief medical officers — Dr V K Arya and Dr B P Singh — were shot in  Lucknow within just six months in 2011. It’s claimed that top officials took away crores that were meant for the rural development fund.

The right sequence of events — as established in the CBI officials’ findings — says that the main scam-related activities of the accused with respect to the massive NRHM scam took place during Sharma’s official absence from work in November 2011.