A departmental inquiry has cleared paediatrician Dr Kafeel Khan’s of medical negligence, corruption and dereliction of duty on the day when more than 60 children died at Gorakhpur’s BRD Medical College due to oxygen shortage in August 2017. The report also commended Khan for doing everything in his power to help save children.

The 15-page government probe report comes two years after Khan was suspended from the hospital and was sent to jail for nine months for the charges that he has now been cleared of.

The doctor continues to be suspended from the BRD Medical College and has demanded a CBI probe into the tragedy.

Khan has accused the state government of hiding the fact that the allegations made against him were removed for around five months.

“While the government has not been able to pin down the actual culprit yet, I have been made the scapegoat. The report was not sent to me in all these months. Now, the Medical Education Department has asked me to come forth to present my case on the private practice issue, which is not even related to the tragedy,” he said.

“The government should tender an apology, provide victims with compensation and get the incident probed by the CBI,” he added.

The 15-page report does not hold Khan accountable or guilty of “medical negligence” and mentions that he had made all efforts to control the situation when the hospital faced oxygen shortage for 54 hours between 10 and 11 August 2017.

The report, however, accuses Khan of carrying out private practice till August 2016. As per the investigation report, Khan was not the nodal medical officer-in-charge of the Encephalitis Ward at BRD Hospital and that the documents supporting the same provided by the Department were “inadequate and inconsistent.”

It clarifies that Khan had informed his seniors of the oxygen shortage. He later provided the inquiry officer with call details and evidence of seven oxygen cylinders that he provided in his personal capacity, on the night of the tragedy.

“I always knew I have not done anything wrong. On that fateful day, I did what I could do best, as a doctor, father and a common Indian. But for my efforts to save the lives of children, I was thrown behind bars, vilified by the media, my family was put through immense harassment and I was suspended from my job,” Dr Kafeel Khan told the media.

The death of children due to oxygen shortage in August 2017 made headlines after which the state government suspended Khan blaming him for the tragedy.

Also Read: RTI Response Proves There Was Oxygen Shortage In BRD Hospital, Dr Kafeel Khan Arranged For Cylinders