Nine persons, including Gorakhpur’s 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 100 children due to alleged lack of oxygen supply earlier this month.
Dr Kafeel Khan (the 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. They all have been accused of indulging in corrupt practices and misusing 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 anaesthesia and the oxygen supply department. They were all posted at the medical college,” said a police officer.
The move comes after a probe committee, set up by CM Yogi Adityanath, 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.
SP (East), Sarvesh Kumar Mishra, said that the case has been transferred to Gorakhpur police for investigation.
The committee has also suggested disciplinary action against Dr Mishra, Dr Satish, Dr Khan and Jaiswal.
