Former principal of BRD medical college Dr Rajiv Mishra and his wife and his wife Dr Purnima Shukla were arrested by the Special Task Force (STF)on Tuesday. Police nabbed them from Kanpur where the couple had gone to seek legal advice. Both of them had been on run after the government lodged an FIR against them.
The STF later brought them to Gorakhpur and handed them over to district police. This is the first arrest in Gorakhpur deaths case in which over 60 children died in BRD medical college because of inadequate supply of the oxygen. Mishra was suspended following the death of infants. He later resigned from his post to take "moral responsibility" for the incident.
SSP Gorakhpur Siddarth Pankaj has confirmed these arrests. The couple was named in the inquiry conducted by the UP chief secretary of UP Rajiv Kumar. Police have raided the house of another accused Dr Kafeel Khan, former nodal officer of the Acute Encephalitis Ward in the hospital. He has been absconding ever since the incident. There are reports that Khan has fled abroad. The owners of Pushpa Sales, the company which was responsible for the supply of liquid oxygen, have also been named in the FIR.
Now the investigation agencies are planning to probe assets of the accused which are said to be disproportionate to their income. The probe has established that junior employees, too, were involved in corruption at the medical college hospital. For instance, soon the axe may fall on chief pharmacist Gajanan Jaisawal, and clerks Uday, Sudheer and Sanjay.
These employees allegedly have played a vital role in stopping the payment to the firm supplying oxygen. To keep a check on such incidents in government hospitals, the Yogi government is planning to introduce e-tendering to bring in transparency.
