Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath along. (Express photo by Vishal Srivastav)
NINE PERSONS, including Gorakhpur-based BRD Medical College and Hospital’s former principal Dr Rajeev Mishra and his wife Dr Purnima Shukla, have been booked in connection with the deaths of over 60 children due to alleged lack of oxygen supply earlier this month.
Dr Kafeel Khan (then head of the Encephalitis ward who was later suspended) and Manish Bhandari — the proprietor of M/s Pushpa Sales, the company responsible for the supply of liquid oxygen — have also been named in the FIR lodged at the Hazratganj police station in Lucknow. All have been accused of indulging in corrupt practices and swindling of government funds, leading to the ill-functioning of medical facilities at the hospital.
“Others named in the FIR are Uday Pratap of the audit department, clerks Sanjay and Sudhir, chief pharmacist Gajanan Jaiswal and Dr Satish, head of anesthesia and the oxygen supply department. They were all posted at the medical college,” said a police officer.
The action comes after a probe committee, set up by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on August 12, had submitted its report on the deaths to the CM on Sunday.
The FIR has been lodged under sections 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property), 409 (criminal breach of trust by public servant), 308 (attempt to commit culpable homicide) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC, along with section 15 of Indian Medical Council (IMC) and section 7/13 of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
The case has been transferred to Gorakhpur police for investigation, SP (East) Sarvesh Kumar Mishra said.
Besides recommending action under Prevention of Corruption Act against Dr Mishra and his wife, audit department employees and Jaiswal, the committee had also suggested disciplinary action against Dr Mishra, Dr Satish, Dr Khan and Jaiswal. Moreover, it had recommended that criminal charges be lodged against Dr Khan for submitting an affidavit to the Gorakhpur chief medical officer, where he allegedly hid facts and worked against the rules of the Indian Medical Council.
