india

Updated: Feb 23, 2020 10:59 IST

An uncle of Dr Kafeel Khan was shot dead by unidentified men outside his house in Uttar Pradesh’s Gorakhpur late on Saturday when he was returning after playing carrom at a neighbour’s house, police said.

Dr Khan, a paediatrician, had hit the headlines after the death of 60 children in the BRD Hospital in September 2017 allegedly due to disruption in oxygen supply over unpaid bills to the vendor.

He was suspended and had spent more than seven months in jail before being released in April 2018.

Fifty-five-year-old Nusrutullah Warsi, who was shot in the head from point-blank range, died on the spot in Bankatichak area of the city.

Police cited a property dispute as the reason behind the murder and said they have formed teams to nab the culprits after registering a first information report (FIR).

Nusrutullah, who belonged to a land owning family, owned several pieces of lands in Gorakhpur and outside and was fighting cases on illegal possession on many of them.

“Prima facie, property dispute seems to be the reason behind the murder. Following a complaint by family members, we have formed three teams to arrest the culprits. Soon, the case will be worked out,” Gorakhpur’s senior superintendent of police Sunil Gupta said.

According to reports, the attack took place around 11pm when Warsi was coming back home from a neighbour’s place. As soon as Warsi reached a mausoleum close to his home, the already waiting attacker, possibly known to him, met him and started talking as both entered the gate of his home.

The shooter then whipped out his pistol and shot Warsi in his head and fled.

Dr Kafeel’s youngest brother Kashif Jameel was shot at over property dispute in 2018 and the doctor had accused Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP’s) lawmaker Kamlesh Paswan of the attack. The charges were dismissed by the MP.

On January 29, Dr Kafeel Khan was arrested and jailed in connection of his December 12 alleged hate speech against Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) at Aligarh Muslim University (AMU).

Just before his release on bai, he was slapped with National security Act (NSA) on February 14 for his alleged hate speech.