Questions Ram Rahim Singh's murky donation of 14 bodies to Lucknow medical college leaves us with
It is now official that self-styled godman Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, convicted for the rape of two of his former devotees at Dera Sachcha Sauda, has a Lucknow connection.
This revelation was made by the Haryana government after a probe pointed to the fact that Lucknow-based GCRG medical college, located in the city's outskirts, had received 14 bodies from the Dera in a suspicious manner. They were used as cadavers by the private college's Anatomy and Physiology departments.
Investigators say some of the bodies could be of those who died in mysterious circumstances - what is intriguing is why Ram Rahim chose this medical college so far away from the Dera headquarters at Sirsa.
While for official purposes the transaction was a "donation of cadavers", neither the dera nor the college cared to follow the prescribed procedures for the transfer of the bodies.
In fact, in August, a committee constituted by the Allahabad High Court to look into issues raised by the medical college against its de-recognition, had also clearly described the transaction of dead bodies as a serious violation of rules. Referring to the explanation given by the medical college, the committee stated that "obtaining 14 cadavers from Dera sachcha Sauda, Sirsa, Haryana without requisite permission and death certificates is a serious issue to be looked into by the concerned authorities".
The college also does not have a clean track record. Owned by retired UP government official Onkar Yadav, widely known for his proximity to Samajwadi Party bigwig Shivpal Yadav, the medical college boasts of investments.
The campus was initially set up as an engineering college, but with the steady fall in the intake of engineering aspirants, its owners decided to expand the institution into a full-fledged medical college.
Political connections of the owner made it easy to get the clearances in no time.
With plush infrastructure, air-conditioned lecture-rooms and state-of-art equipment, the college started offering MBBS. However, of late, it has run into trouble with the authorities after gross irregularities were reported in its admission procedures as well as academic functioning. In May last, the Union health ministry barred the medical college from the admission process for two years.
Onkar Yadav, the owner of the institution, too has had a controversial track record as an officer of the state cooperatives service. He faced serious corruption charges and remained suspended for sometime on account of his alleged involvement in the reported irregularties. However, every time he was under a scanner, his godfathers in the Samajwadi Party managed to have him bailed out. Yadav, however, faced some difficult times when Samajwadi veteran Shivpal crossed swords with his nephew and then chief minister of UP Akhlesh Yadav.
Asked how the college got in touch with Dera Sachcha Sauda, a spokesman of the institution told mediapersons in Lucknow that the insitution was "in dire need of cadavers for teaching purposes". He said, "In fact, the Medical Council of India had taken serious note of the fact that we were working with few cadavers. We came to know that the Sirsa-based Dera Sachcha Sauda had many followers who had willed their bodies to be donated for medical education. So we approached the dera and got a prompt response."
According to the college spokesman, several private medical colleges were listed with the dera that was supplying cadavers to them for teaching purposes. He claimed that he has the proof of identity of each of the cadavers received by the college. While he denied that monetary transactions aided the exchange of bodies, the spokesman said the college had made payments for the ambulance used to cart the bodies from Haryana.
Lucknow police is not in the picture so far. But investigators from Haryana are likely to arrive in the city to probe if there is a deeper nexus between the dera and the medical college.