Deputy Chief Medical Officer Y S Sachan. (PTI)
Troubles seem to be mounting for Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati as the mysterious death of deputy Chief Medical Officer (CMO) in the Family Welfare Department, Yogendra Singh Sachan, in jail has sparked protests in the state.
Workers belonging to the Samajwadi Party (SP) today clashed with the police in Lucknow, demanding a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into Mr Sachan's death.
Mr Sachan, charged with plotting the murder of two CMOs, was found dead in the district jail hospital yesterday evening.
His was found hanging from a ceiling fan in the toilet of the jail hospital. Police termed it a sace of suicide.
But the Opposition isn't convinced alleging that it is a cover-up by the state government.
"It is a case of murder and not of suicide. We demand that a proper CBI inquiry be done in the suspicious death of Dr Yogendra Singh Sachan. It is a very serious matter and we need to honestly investigate the matter", BJP spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad said.
The deceased's family has also joined the growing chorus for a CBI probe into the incident. They are also demanding a post-mortem to be carried out by doctors at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in New Delhi.
The Chief Minister had earlier suspended five staff members of the Lucknow district jail where Mr Sachan was found dead under mysterious circumstances.
He was named as the main accused by the police in the murder case of CMO (Family Welfare) BP Singh following the arrest of three people by the Special Task Force (STF) on June 17.
Mr Singh was shot dead by unidentified persons on the morning of April 2 when he had gone out for a walk.
The STF had on June 17 arrested three persons - Ram Krishna Verma, Anand Tewari and Vinod Sharma - who had confessed to the crime and named Mr Sachan, the deputy CMO, as the main conspirator.
Mr Sachan's superiors had accused him of financial irregularities in purchase of drugs and equipment under the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM). The Uttar Pradesh government has ordered a judicial probe into Sachan's alleged suicide.