Mr Sunil Varma, an accused in the multi crore National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) scam and a project engineer associated with the construction and design service of the UP Government’s Jal Nigam, committed suicide this morning.

Police officials said in Lucknow that Sunil Varma shot himself at his Vikas Nagar residence with his licensed revolver.

Varma was named in the FIR filed by the CBI in the NRHM scam in which former Minister Babu Singh Kushwaha was also named as an accused.

The news of suicide by a senior official associated with the project comes along with the reports that the CBI sleuths began searches at the residence of the former minister early in the morning today.

After he shot himself at 8.30 am, family members rushed him to a nearby hospital but he succumbed to the bullet injuries with in minutes in the hospital.

CBI registered FIR in the scam following the directions of the Allahabad High Court after three officials connected with the project were mysteriously murdered. The CBI teams earlier conducted raids on the houses and offices of several senior officials involved in the Project and some business persons connected with it. (JUBS)