Gorakhpur doctor Kafeel Khan, a man who gets mysteriously arrested

The story of paediatrician, Kafeel Khan- who has become a celebrity of sorts in the backwaters of Gorakhpur

In August 2017, Yogi Adityanath was facing his first crisis, within five months of taking oath as chief minister of Uttar Pradesh. The death of 30 infants in the encephalitis ward of the Baba Raghav Das (BRD) Medical College in his home turf of Gorakhpur, allegedly owing to oxygen shortage, had the entire state machinery scrambling. The situation was making headlines and giving the comatose opposition plenty of ammunition.

Subsequently, an FIR was lodged against nine persons, including the principal, oxygen supplier, and hospital doctors and staff for criminal negligence. Ever since, while the rest of the accused have largely faded from public memory, the one still in the reckoning is a young paediatrician, Kafeel Khan.

Khan, who was initially hailed as a hero for trying to procure oxygen cylinders from outside the hospital, soon became a villain, when preliminary investigations named him as one of the accused instead. He was removed from BRD’s paediatrics department and arrested in September 2017. In April 2018, he got bail from the Allahabad High Court.

Khan has become a celebrity of sorts in the backwaters of Gorakhpur. The medical practitioner, who lives in the city’s Basantpur area, has always maintained he was falsely implicated and in fact had responded to the situation beyond the call of duty.

Even as the other accused preferred to keep a low profile, Khan, 36, has stayed in the news. His minor celebrityhood has amplified since, aided by his active presence on social media and interviews to newspapers and channels proclaiming his innocence and raking conspiracy theories.

Last week, Khan and his brother Adeel were arrested in a nine-year-old fraud case. In 2009, a case had been registered against the brothers by a Gorakhpur resident, Muzaffar Alam. He alleged that the Khan siblings had illegally used his photograph and identity proof to open a fictitious account in the State Bank of India and made transactions worth over Rs 8.2 million in Alam’s name. At that time, Khan was still studying medicine.

Just a day earlier, on September 22, Khan and two associates were arrested and his car seized from the neighbouring Bahraich district hospital for allegedly disturbing the peace and being a public nuisance. He was granted bail — only to be arrested again in the forgery case.

According to the Bahraich police, Khan entered the district hospital and started enquiring about the medical facilities and treatment being given to the children. When the on-duty doctors protested, Khan allegedly started arguing with them and soon, the police was informed of his “intrusion”. His brother, Adeel, later claimed that Khan was arrested when he was preparing to address the media over the issue of over 70 children dying because of encephalitis in Bahraich over the past six weeks.

Adding fuel to more conspiracy theories, his 34-year-old brother Kashif Jameel was shot at by unidentified assailants in June. Members of his family had called on Adityanath during his visit to Gorakhpur to seek security for the family.

Meanwhile, a local journalist commented that Khan often tried to project himself as a victim from a minority community to gain sympathy. “Lately, Khan’s public appearances have increased. When all the other accused are fighting the BRD case in court, he is always seen raking up the issue on public forums,” he said. Good Samaritan or political opportunist? Everyone’s still wondering.