Accusing the Chhattisgarh government of trying to "cover up" the botched sterilisation that led to the death of at least 13 women, the Congress has written to President Pranab Mukherjee, saying it favoured a CBI inquiry in the matter.
K.C. Mittal, who heads the Congress' legal and human rights department, has written to the president, alleging that the Bharatiya Janata Party government in the state lacked "will and courage" to conduct an independent investigation.
He said the botched up surgeries had shaken the entire nation and "reveals negligence and indifference" of the Raman Singh government.
"Unfortunately, the attempt of the state government and the central government has been to cover up the incident and to shield the real culprits by downplaying the whole issue," Mittal said.
"The destruction of drugs and other incriminating evidence by the state government and people involved will make it impossible to reach the real culprits and unravel the nexus," he added.
Citing reports, he said the medicines used during the botched sterilisation were laced with rat-killing poison zinc phosphide.
"Looking into the nature of the allegations and since the state government lacks the will and courage to do the same, it ought to have been referred to the CBI and the scope of investigation should have been enlarged," Mittal said.
