Bike-borne men shot at Dr Kafeel Khan's brother Kashif Jameel in Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, last night.
The family of Kafeel Khan, the doctor whose
brother was shot in Gorakhpur last evening, has come up with a video, citing it as proof of how the police insisted on shuttling the injured man from hospital to hospital, delaying his treatment for three hours. Kafeel Khan, who was jailed last year in connection with the children's deaths in Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, says the shooting was a conspiracy and accuses the police of obstructing treatment.
Kashif Jameel was shot in the neck and he was shunted from hospital to hospital for three hours before he received any treatment. All the while, the bullet was lodged in his neck. The video shows the bleeding man lying on a stretcher in what appears a hospital corridor, while a savage argument rages over him between his family and the police. A man holds his hand. Another holds a bottle of saline. There is no doctor in sight.
The police had insisted that the matter being medico-legal, the injured man had to be taken to a government hospital. But the facilities of the first government hospital they went to - the Sadar hospital - were woefully inadequate, the family said. He was next taken to the BRD medical college, which turned the patient away, saying they did not have a neurologist in the hospital. He was then taken to a private hospital, where the family had taken him initially.
He has undergone an operation and the doctors have said that he is out of danger.
The family said the police had physically tried to stop them from getting into the ambulance with injured man.
The police have said their first priority is finding the culprits, Shalabh Mathur, a local police officer, said they are waiting for a written complaint from the family.
Kashif Jameel, a businessman, was shot last evening meters from the Gorakhnath temple, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's home. With the Chief Minister staying there, there was heavy police presence in the area and the family questions how the shooting could have taken place in a high security zone.
While they did not cite any exact motive for the murder, the family has called it a "conspiracy", indicating that the matter is tied up with the arrest of Dr Khan.
The doctor was in charge of oxygen supply at Gorakhpur's BRD Medical College, where more than 60 children died last August. Critics cite oxygen shortage as the reason. The BJP-led Uttar Pradesh government, however, had denied that shortage of oxygen led to the deaths, but Dr Khan was accused of negligence. His family says he was made the scapegoat.
In a tweet this morning, Dr Khan said, "
Allah rahem kare. M not going to bend."