Mystery shrouds doc's death in jail

Sachan found dead in UP prison, relatives seek CBI probe; govt says no

Mystery shrouded the death of suspended deputy CMO (Family Welfare) Dr Y S Sachan, arrested for allegedly giving “supari” to kill his boss, after his body was found hanging in a hospital at the Lucknow district jail on Wednesday evening.

While police officials claimed that Dr Sachan had committed suicide, his relatives alleged that he had been tortured and killed to “shield the real culprits who have high connections and could be involved in corrupt deeds in the family welfare department”. They also demanded a CBI probe into the matter.

“Prima facie it appears that Dr Sachan committed suicide,”, UP Cabinet secretary Shashank Shekhar Singh told reporters here.  Singh said his viscera had been preserved and categorically ruled out a CBI probe into the issue.

The autopsy report of Dr Sachan, however, raised several questions and disputed the police theory. The report attributed his death to excessive bleeding and stated that there were eight injury marks on his body. “Such injuries cannot be inflicted by a man on himself,” said the doctors.

The death of Sachan had occurred within the last 24 hours, the report stated. The family of Dr Sachan said they were not satisfied with the  report and want the doctors of AIIMS in Delhi to perform another autopsy.

Judicial probe

Taking the mysterious death of Dr Sachan inside the secured jail premises seriously, the UP government has ordered a judicial probe and suspended five jail officials, including the jailor.

Dr Sachan was found hanging by his belt inside the toilet of the jail hospital. “His body bore injury marks at many places and he had also lost a lot of blood,” according to officials. His death has sent the officials into a tizzy and senior officials rushed to the jail along with dog squad and finger print experts.

The police, however, claimed that Dr Sachan was “disturbed” and was not keeping well for the past few days. Incidently Dr Sachan was to be produced before the court on Thursday and the police were preparing to seek his custody for interrogation, which could have “implicated several senior officials and politicians”, said an official.

The police had claimed that Dr Sachan had got his boss CMO Dr B P Singh killed while the latter was taking a stroll near his residence in the posh Gomti Nagar area in April this year.

He was also suspected to have engineered the killing of Dr Singh’s predecessor Dr V P Arya in same manner in October last year. Three persons, including the two who had allegedly killed Dr Singh, were arrested a few days back by the police. They had revealed that Dr Sachan had given them a “supari” of Rs 7 lakh to eliminate Dr Singh.

Officials in the health department suspect that Dr Sachan might have been killed by the “drug mafia” at the instance of “some higher ups”, who could have been implicated by Dr Sachan.

Health officials said large scale corruption in the centrally sponsored National Rural Health Mission could be reason for these deaths.  Dr Sachan’s mysterious death in the jail evoked sharp reactions from the opposition parties, which were united in demanding a CBI probe into the matter.

State Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav alleged that top officials in the Mayawati government were “responsible for Sachan’s murder”.

The Congress and the BJP also alleged that it could be the handiwork of higher ups in the present government. SP workers also staged demonstrations across the state demanding a CBI probe.