india

Updated: Sep 28, 2019 01:35 IST

Dr Kafeel Ahmed Khan, who has finally been given a clean chit in the 2017 Gorakhpur hospital tragedy that claimed the lives of over 60 children, on Friday said that he was made a scapegoat and punished for a crime he never committed.

On Thursday, the administration of the BRD Medical College, Gorakhpur had handed over an internal probe report to Khan, a paediatrician, clearing him of charges of medical negligence and corruption.

More than 60 children, mostly infants, had died at the hospital within a week in August 2017, allegedly due to disruption in oxygen supply over unpaid bills to the vendor. Khan was among the nine doctors and other staff indicted by the state government in connection with the tragedy.

The 15-page probe report, a copy which has been reviewed by HT, states, “The allegations against the accused are insufficient ... Therefore, it is submitted that the accused officer is not guilty.”

Khan told HT that the Yogi Adityanath government should apologise and give compensation to the parents of the children who died in the tragedy. He also demanded a probe by the CBI and said the case be shifted outside Uttar Pradesh.

Claiming that the report came out on April 18, 2019, he blamed the state government for keeping him in the dark about being absolved of the allegations for around five months.

According to the investigation report, Khan was not the nodal medical officer in-charge of the encephalitis ward at BRD Hospital, and that the documents contesting the same provided by the department were “inadequate and inconsistent”.