Mayawati: Wants a high-level inquiry

Chief Minister Mayawati told a press conference in Lucknow on Tuesday that she had sacked the head of the state's Criminal Investigation Department (CID) because it had made no real progress.

Ms Mayawati has been under pressure to call on the federal police (CBI) to investigate the case after allegations that one of her ministers had an affair with Ms Shukla who was killed on 9 May.

Last month Ms Mayawati sacked the minister, Amar Mani Tripathi.

But she told reporters Mr Tripathi had denied any involvement in Ms Shukla's murder.

Deadline

The killing has attracted particular attention because it took place in the constituency of Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee.

Last month Ms Mayawati gave the CID a one-month deadline to complete their investigation.

She also dismissed the senior superintendent of Lucknow District police for allegedly suppressing evidence in the murder case.

Madhumita Shukla's family said she was unmarried but was pregnant and police say samples of the foetus were preserved for DNA testing.

However, Narayan Dixt - a priest in Uttar Pradesh - claimed he presided over the wedding of Ms Shukla to a young engineering student - Anuj Mishra - at the end of 2002.