Missing viscera: CBI to quiz docs who conducted Sachan’s autopsy

Sachan was found dead in suspicious circumstances in an unlit toilet on the unused first floor of the Lucknow Jail on June 22. His body was found resting on a commode with his face to the fall and had eight deep cuts. The belt of his trousers was around his neck and the other end was tied to the toilet grill.

While the state government claimed he committed suicide,a judicial inquiry said he was murdered. The Allahabad High Court had on July 14 ordered the CBI to investigate Sachan’s death.

A panel of five doctors had conducted the autopsy. They were Dr Shailesh Kumar Srivastava and Dr Sunil Kumar Singh from Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital,Dr Ashutosh Kumar Dubey and Dr Rajesh Kumar from the Balrampur Hospital and Dr Mousami Singh from the CSM Medical University in Lucknow.

The autopsy found that Sachan had died from blood loss due to the cuts on his body. It also found that the ligature mark on his neck,caused by the belt,occurred after death.

CBI sources that the study of the autopsy report by forensic experts showed that the cuts on Sachan’s body could not be self-inflicted.

However,strangely,there was no sign of physical resistance from Sachan. Therefore,there was a strong possibility that he was sedated before the cuts were inflicted by some sharp weapon.

But,in the absence of viscera,it is not possible to ascertain if Sachan was actually sedated. It is for this reason that the investigators want to question the doctors to find out why and who decided not to preserve the viscera.

On June 23,the day the autopsy was done,the Cabinet Secretary had told the media that Sachan’s viscera had been preserved. During the hearing on the petition seeking CBI investigation the same day,Advocate General Jyotindra Mishra told the high court that instructions for preserving the viscera had been issued.

In their judgement,Justices Pradeep Kant and Rituraj Awasthi recorded the fact that in spite of the statement made by the Advocate General,the viscera of Sachan was not preserved.

Observing that the Advocate General must have made his statement on instructions of officials,the judges wondered what action the government had taken against them.

“Why the viscera was not preserved is also not known,although the cause of death of Dr Sachan still required investigation,’’ said the judges.

Sachan was arrested in early April in a case of alleged financial irregularities in the implementation of NRHM in Lucknow.

On June 17,however,the police claimed he had planned the murder of former CMO Dr B P Singh,which took place on April 2,and also had a link with the murder of Dr Singh’s predecessor Dr V K Arya on October 27 last year.

The CBI is also investigating the murder of the two CMOs.