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In a letter dated 18 April, Dr Kafeel Khan, who is currently behind bars for the death of 63 infants in Gorakhpur, writes that he has been made a scapegoat for what was clearly a failure at the administrative levels.
Khan is among the accused who were arrested after the infants died at the BRD Medical College in Uttar Pradesh’s Gorakhpur due to a shortage in oxygen supply in August last year.
He was taken to the hospital earlier this week after his wife Dr Shabista Khan alleged her jailed husband was being denied medical care.
In his letter, Khan alleges that despite having been on sanctioned leave, he rushed back to the hospital on 10 August, as soon as he received a WhatsApp message intimating him of the situation.
Khan says that he ‘begged’ for help, doing his best to save the ‘innocent lives from dying’.
Thanking the Seema Suraksha Bal for its help, Khan says that a group of soldiers arranged for a truck to carry empty cylinders from BRD to the gas agencies to fill them, and refill them as and when required.
Asserting that he along with his team had done everything they could, Khan says they did not stop till when the liquid oxygen tank arrived.
Meanwhile, according to a report carried by The Wire, Uttar Pradesh government has denied that the children died due to a shortage in oxygen supply, instead maintaining that the deaths were due to natural causes.
Khan recounts how meeting with Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on 13 August ‘turned his life upside down.’
Following this, he alleges that the police began coming to his house and hounding his family, fearing which he surrendered before the police, despite having done no wrong.
Khan further alleges that those who should be held responsible are the DM Gorakhpur, DGME (director general of medical education), principal secretary health education, who have made him and the others the scapegoats to escape punishment.
Referring to the recent bail that was awarded to the director of Pushpa Sales, the gas agency embroiled in the case, Khan ends his letter by stating that he is still waiting for his turn.
Addressing a press conference on Saturday, Khan’s wife Dr Shabista Khan alleged that her husband was being mistreated in the jail, and was avoided treatment.
Speaking to The Quint, Dr Shabista said:
Khan was booked for ‘attempt to murder’ and his family has applied for his bail six times in the last seven months.
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