Gorakhpur hospital tragedy: Dr Kafeel Khan was in-charge of encephalitis ward.
Highlights
- Dr Kafeel Khan arrested from Gorakhpur in connection with hospital deaths
- Gorakhpur Court issued non-bailable warrants against him, six others
- Dr Khan is the third person to be arrested in the case
A doctor was arrested from Gorakhpur today in connection with the deaths of over 60 children in BRD Medical College and Hospital last month.
Dr Kafeel Khan was in-charge of the encephalitis ward at the Baba Raghav Das hospital, where more than 60 children died in a span of five days, allegedly due to shortage of oxygen cylinders.
"Kafeel Khan was apprehended today at around 9 am from Gorakhpur, and he is being handed over to Gorakhpur Police," IG Special Task Force Amitabh Yash told news agency PTI.
Dr Khan was initially hailed a hero after hospital staff said he was at the forefront in the rescue effort, bringing oxygen cylinders for the newborn babies who were fighting for their life on the night of August 11 - the day when the mass deaths took place at the state-run hospital. But he soon fell from grace. The doctor was charged with medical negligence and also accused of doing private practice.
Mr Khan was removed after allegations of negligence and alleged theft leading to a shortage of oxygen were leveled against him. He was also a member of the supplies department that managed stock of equipment and so was held accountable for not apprising Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath of the shortage of oxygen cylinders and of outstanding payments by the hospital.
Dr Kafeel Khan was in-charge of the encephalitis ward at the Baba Raghav Das hospital
On Friday, Gorakhpur Court issued non-bailable warrants against Dr Khan and six others. All the seven persons - Kafeel Khan, Manish Bhandari, Uday Pratap Sharma, Sanjay Kumar Tripathi, Satish, Sudhir Kumar Pandey and Gajanand Jaiswal - have been accused by the state government of many irregularities and lackadaisical attitude, which finally led to the death of children, allegedly due to paucity of oxygen, between August 7 and 11.
Dr Khan is the third person to be arrested in the case. Former Principal of BRD Hospital Dr Rajiv Mishra and his wife were arrested from Kanpur on August 29 and have been sent to the Gorakhpur district jail on a 14 day judicial custody.
Meanwhile, 29 children have died in the state-run hospital in the last two days of August, taking the death toll to over 400 for the month.