Hours after Dr Kafeel Khan, an accused in the BRD Medical College negligence case, alleged that BJP MP Kamlesh Paswan was behind a recent attack on his brother Kashif Jameel, the parliamentarian dismissed the allegations him as "baseless" and an attempt "to hog limelight".
Speaking to reporters in Gorakhpur, the MP from Bansgaon said he was mulling a defamation case in this regard.
"After getting Congress president Rahul Gandhi's letter in his support, Dr Khan is trying to hog limelight by levelling false allegations against a BJP MP. He is making absurd statements like Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath was in town when the incident took place.
"He has also said Yogiji and I are not on good terms. This is absolutely absurd. He himself had gone to the hospital after getting injured but had not taken my name before the police then. After five days, he is taking my name, which is ridiculous," Paswan said, adding that he was ready for any probe, "by the CBI or any other agency".
Asserting that the allegations levelled against him by Khan, who spent nearly seven months in jail in connection with the BRD Medical College case, in which a number of children and infants died, he alleged that "Kashif and his brothers are accused in over a dozen cases of land-grabbing".
"In the past, Kashif had himself shot at his leg and tried to frame a 55-year-old man and a 60-year-old woman in a case. He is in the land business and is an accused in many cases. He had fraudulently taken a huge loan from the Punjab National Bank in the name of two persons -- Shadab and Yusuf -- and did not repay it. The bank has served a notice," Paswan said.
Taking a jibe at Dr Khan, the MP wondered how could he address a press meet in Lucknow "suited, booted", when his brother was undergoing treatment in a hospital.
Earlier, speaking to reporters here, Khan said, "The attack on Kashif was carried out at the behest of BJP MP from Bansgaon Kamlesh Paswan, in collusion with Satish Nanglia (the owner of a plaza in Gorakhpur)."
Maintaining that there was no direct enmity between the MP and his brother, he alleged that both Paswan and Nanglia wanted to occupy a plot of land that belonged to his maternal uncle, for which even an FIR was registered earlier.
Khan also demanded a security cover from the Uttar Pradesh government for himself and his family members, claiming that all of them were facing threats to their lives.
According to the police, Kashif Jameel (34) was allegedly shot at by unidentified, bike-borne miscreants near the JP Hospital in Gorakhpur on June 10, after which he was rushed to a private nursing home, from where he was referred to the trauma centre of King George Medical University here.
Kashif had received bullet injuries on his right upper-arm, neck and chin.
A day after the attack, Khan had written on Twitter, "Allah rahem kare. I'm not going to bend."
Gorakhpur's Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Shalabh Mathur had, on June 11, said, "A case has been registered against unidentified persons. The police are investigating all the possible aspects."
Khan was the nodal officer of the 100-bed AES ward at the Baba Raghav Das Medical College, Gorakhpur, when 30 children had died in the hospital on August 10 and 11 last year.
He was removed after the incident and was later arrested by the Uttar Pradesh police in September, 2017 for alleged criminal negligence.
Khan was granted bail by the Allahabad High Court in April.
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