Dr Kafeel Khan was arrested in Mumbai by the Special Task Force of UP Police.
Dr Kafeel Khan, the Uttar Pradesh doctor who was jailed after the death of over 60 children at a government hospital in 2017, was arrested in Mumbai late Wednesday night by Uttar Pradesh Police. He is accused of giving a provocative speech on the Citizenship (Amendment) Act or CAA at a talk at the Aligarh Muslim University last month.
Dr Khan was arrested after a First Information Report (FIR) was registered against him in December, sources say.
Dr Khan was arrested with assistance from Mumbai Police at the airport when he arrived in the city to attend anti-CAA protests, an official was quoted as saying by news agency PTI. "Officials of the UP Special Task Force arrested Dr Kafeel Khan in a case which was registered at Civil Lines Police Station under section 153 A (promoting enmity between different groups) of IPC. Our police team helped our UP counterparts on their request," said an official from Mumbai Police.
The FIR, filed on December 13, says Dr Khan made an attempt to vitiate the peaceful atmosphere at the university and disturb communal harmony.
Two days after the case was registered against Dr Khan, there was large-scale at AMU, where the police were accused of indulging in high-handedness inside the campus . The police entered after permission from university authorities but were later accused of going inside hostels and randomly assaulting students and indulging in vandalism.
A fight between the police and AMU students had broken out as students tried to take an anti-CAA march outside the campus and the cops prevented their exit from the main gate.
However, it's not clear why the Special Task Force of UP Police picked up Dr Khan now, around 40 days after the complaint was registered.
Dr Kafeel Khan was scheduled to be present at an anti-CAA protest in Mumbai today. The indefinite stir by women protesters at Mumbai Bagh against the citizenship law has entered the fourth day.
Dr Khan was suspended, arrested and jailed for his alleged role in the deaths of over 60 children at a government hospital in Gorakhpur due to alleged oxygen shortage in 2017. In September last year, a UP government report cleared him of all major accusations.
(With inputs from PTI)