Dr Kafeel Khan, a Gorakhpur doctor blamed for the death of 30 children at a state-run hospital in Uttar Pradesh last month, was arrested on Saturday from the house of his in-laws where he was allegedy hiding, police said.
Dr Kafeel Khan was in-charge of the encephalitis ward at BRD hospital in Lucknow. (File Photo)
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Khan is among seven people named in a case registered over the death of the 30 children within 48 hours at the BRD Medical College on August 10-11.
He was allegedly absconding since the police registered a case over the incident which triggered nationwide outrage and exposed the grim healthcare scenario in India.
Khan was suspended along with former principal RK Mishra and five others.
He was picked up by a team of the special task force (STF) from his in-laws’ house located in a rural part of Gorakhpur, said Manoj Tiwari, STF’s senior superintendent of police.
He said Khan, who was traced through electronic surveillance, was handed over to Gorakhpur police who are investigating the case.
The 30 deaths are among 418 reported from the Gorakhpur hospital in August and more than 1100 casualties since January, the highest ever.
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The 30 deaths over two days were attributed to shortage of oxygen after a private company cut supply over a payment dispute.
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The 30 deaths over two days were attributed to shortage of oxygen after a private company cut supply over a payment dispute.
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The government, however, attributes the deaths to Japanese encephalitis and acute encephalitis syndrome which ravage several states during the monsoons.
Khan was in-charge of the encephalitis war of the hospital when the deaths occurred.
He was arrested a day after a police team visited his residence in Gorakhpur and served a 24-hour deadline to appear for questioning. Police had also threatened to declare him an absconder.
In all, seven officials and employees have been suspended so far in connection with the deaths.
Immediately after the deaths were reported, Khan was hailed as a saviour of children but later he was portrayed as villain for his private practice and an alleged old case of rape against him.
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Kafeel said he saved lives by arranging over 250 cylinders in 24 hours.
Rajesh Kumar Singh is Assistant Editor, Hindustan Times, at the political bureau in Lucknow. An Alumnus of Ramjas College, Delhi and the University of Delhi, he has covered politics in the Hindi heartland Uttar Pradesh and Bihar for three decades and has written extensively on Dalit and OBC politics. He travelled across Uttar Pradesh to cover the panchayat, assembly and Lok Sabha elections. Along with writing on development issues, governance and public policy has done crime reporting, including Maoist activities in Bihar as well as activities of gangsters in East Uttar Pradesh, Jungle Party gang active on UP- Bihar border, dacoit gangs in Bundelkhand region and Sand Mafia active in various districts of UP. Has done investigations and reporting exposing multi-crore NRHM scam in UP, Nutrition scam, Medicine supply scam, irregularities in the flood management projects, weapon smuggling and human trafficking on Indo- Nepal border. He highlighted the deaths of children due to encephalitis in the districts of East Uttar Pradesh; the central and state government took cognisance of the report to launch schemes to check deaths and improve the facilities in the health centres and hospitals. He also reported on the social issues in East Uttar Pradesh and Bundelkhand- migration, farming crisis, water crisis, plight of the deprived communities- Musahar, Vantongiyas, Sahariya and Kol communities. He covers state government departments. He also travels to write human-interest stories and in-depth stories from the ground in the Bundelkhand, Purvanchal, and Rohilkhand regions of Uttar Pradesh.
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