NRHM scam: CBI conducts search operations in UP, Gujarat

CBI sources said the new cases registered are against unknown employees of Director General of Family Welfare office of Uttar Pradesh and other health officials related to alleged irregularities in the purchase of medicines.

They said searches are being conducted at six locations in Ghaziabad, Lucknow, Agra in Uttar Pradesh and Vapi in Gujarat. In one of the cases, CBI has alleged that officials purchased medicines from a Rajasthan-based company allegedly at exorbitant prices using funds allocated under the National Rural Health Mission.

With the new cases, the CBI has registered a total of 17 cases in connection with alleged swindling of Central funds worth over Rs 10,000 crore allocated under NRHM to Uttar Pradesh.

The agency has named former Family Welfare Minister Babu Singh Kushwaha and Secretary Pradeep Shukla as accused in several cases. In the new cases, they have not been named, sources said.