Lucknow, July 12 (IANS) Former Lucknow chief medical officer (CMO) A.K.Shukla was Tuesday arrested on charges of financial bungling in the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) programme, police said.


"A.K.Shukla was arrested on charges of financial bungling in NRHM," said Deputy Inspector General Of Police, Lucknow, D.K.Thakur.

Lucknow Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) Rajesh Upadhaya submitted a report as a one-man judicial commission to the Uttar Pradesh government late Monday. Shukla's arrest is believed to have been propelled by the contents of the CJM's report, which is believed to have referred to the manipulation of NRHM funds.

Shukla is related to the ruling Bahujan Samaj Party general secretary Satish Chandra Misra.

The report also confirmed deputy CMO Y.S. Sachan's death as a case of "homicide", dismissing the police theory of suicide.

Sachan was found dead in mysterious circumstances inside a toilet of the Lucknow jail hospital June 10.

The 76-page exhaustive report completed over a span of 18 days, pointedly blames the jail authorities for Sachan's murder.

Sachan was a key accused in the murder of his superior CMO B.P.Singh, who was gunned down April 2. He was also alleged to have been involved in financial irregularities in NRHM.

B.P.Singh's predecessor Vinod Arya was also killed in October 2010.

Fund misappropriation in NRHM was allegedly the cause behind both the murders.

Earlier, two cabinet ministers - Anant Kumar Misra and Babu Singh Kushwaha - who were alleged to be involved in the pilferage of NRHM funds "stepped down on moral grounds."