LUCKNOW: In the follow-up action to the death of over 30 children in a span of 48 hours at Gorakhpur's BRD Medical College on August 10-11, two senior doctors — Dr Kafeel Ahmad and Dr Satish Kumar — have been suspended.
While Dr Kafeel was the nodal officer of the 100-bed encephalitis ward on the night of the tragedy, Dr Satish Kumar was in charge of the anaesthesia department which was responsible for regulation of oxygen supply to different wards.
The action has been taken against the two doctors on the basis of the report of a high-powered four-member probe panel headed by UP chief secretary Rajive Kumar.
“Both the doctors have been suspended following the approval of the state government,” said Dr PK Singh, officiating Principal of BRD Medical College.
Earlier, the probe panel had recommended legal action against the-then principal Dr R K Mishra, oxygen supplier M/s Pushpa Sales and Dr Kafeel Ahmad and Dr Satish Kumar. Dr Mishra was put on suspension a day after the tragedy.
With this, seven persons have been put on suspension following the tragedy in the state-run medical college in Gorakhpur. Apart from this, three doctors, three employees of the hospital and a pharmacist have also been suspended, Dr PK Singh said.
Meanwhile, FIRs were lodged against Dr R K Mishra, his wife Dr Poornima Shukla, Dr Kafeel Ahmad and M/s Pushpa Sales Pvt Ltd on the charges of criminal conspiracy and culpable homicide and under relevant provisions of the Anti-Corruption Act.
In the mean time, the FIRs registered at Hazratganj police station in state capital Lucknow were transferred to Gorakhpur on late Thursday night. As a result, now the probes related to BRD Medical College (Gorakhpur) tragedy would be handled by the local police.
Though officials chose to be non-committal over the matter, sources revealed that SSP Lucknow Deepak Kumar forwarded the FIR to senior officials at the concerned police station in Gorakhpur .