"I have sent my resignation to the Chief Minister as I am a devoted worker of SP. I will continue to provide my services to the people of the state and my constituency Gonda as an MLA", Singh told said.

Asked as to why he was stepping down, Singh said, "I think some people are trying to malign the image of the party taking my name and I don't want this to happen".

Asked about his involvement in the abduction of the CMO, Vinod Singh alias Pandit Singh maintained that he was innocent.

The state government had on Thursday ordered a high-level inquiry into the alleged abduction of the chief medical officer of Gonda S P Singh.

Sources in the government said Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and SP President Mulayam Singh Yadav had taken strong note of the media reports in this regard.

According to the reports, the CMO was allegedly abducted by the Minister as he was "unhappy" over the refusal to accommodate his nominees on the list of doctors on contract recruited by the district health department under the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM).

Meanwhile, the CMO, who had been in hiding since Monday night, said though he had not given any complaint in writing, the incident was more or less what had been reported in the media.

The CMO's family in Mau said their prime concern is the welfare of Singh as of now.

Though the minister's resignation has been welcomed by the party by and large, senior leader and national general secretary Mohan Singh has demanded further action.

"Resignation alone is not enough, further action also needs to be taken", Mohan Singh said. Demanding a high-level probe into the case, Singh said an attempt was being made to malign his image.

He said he would continue to work dedicatedly for the party.

On being questioned about the CMO not being traceable for the last three days, Singh said, "the DM had said that the CMO was called to Lucknow the same night, then where is the question of abduction. Doesn't it smell of conspiracy."

He said an inquiry should be conducted as to with whom the CMO was during the last four days.

Asserting that he had full faith in the leadership of chief minister Akhilesh Yadav, he said an independent inquiry should be conducted and the conspiracy should be exposed.

On being asked whether he went to the CMO's house the minister said, "I am the minister why will I go to an officer's house. In that case I should have called him and he should have come. I am completely innocent".

He claimed there was no pressure from the CM and he resigned only when he saw that his name was being used to malign the image of the party.

The state government had yesterday ordered a high-level inquiry into the alleged abduction of the chief medical officer of Gonda S P Singh by the minister.

"A two-member committee led by Additional Director, Health, has been set up to look into the matter and submit its report by tomorrow," Minister for Health and Family Welfare Ahmad Hasan had said.