Yogi govt conducted mock drill of inquiry, says Priyanka Vadra on clean chit to Agra hospital

NEW DELHI: The BJP government in Uttar Pradesh conducted a "mock drill of an inquiry", Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said on Saturday after clean chit was given to an Agra hospital where 22 patients died after oxygen supply was allegedly cut during a drill.

A team of doctors investigating an alleged 'mock drill' by the private hospital has given a clean chit to the facility, saying it found no proof of an exercise during which oxygen supply was cut off and 22 patients reportedly died.

"Look at the irony: According to media reports, a hospital in Agra carried out a 'mock drill' by cutting off the oxygen supply of patients and the BJP government conducted a mock drill of inquiry by giving a clean chit," Priyanka Gandhi said in a tweet in Hindi.

"Government and hospital: The way is clear for both. The government has dashed the expectations of justice by ignoring the pleas of the family members of the  patients," the Congress general secretary alleged.

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The enquiry had been ordered by the Agra administration last week after a video clip surfaced on social media in which the owner of the city's Shri Paras Hospital was purportedly heard saying that he conducted a "mock drill" in which the oxygen supply was cut off for COVID-19 patients for five minutes.

In the video, the hospitals' owner, Dr Arinjay Jain, was purportedly also heard saying that after the oxygen supply was shut off, 22 patients started turning blue.

The inquiry report submitted by the panel of doctors to the district authorities said there was no proof of a 'mock drill' during which oxygen supply was cut off for five minutes due to which 22 patients allegedly died at the hospital.

The panel, however, mentioned that 16 patients died at the facility between April 26-27 due to co-morbidities and other issues.