GORAKHPUR:  The brother of Dr Kafeel Khan, who is out on bail in connection with the Gorakhpur baby death case, was shot at last night in Gorakhpur. Around 11 pm on Sunday, men on a motorcycle allegedly fired at Kashif Jameel, who is a businessman, and fled.

The 34-year-old brother of Dr Khan was immediately taken to a private nursing home. Dr Khan told the media a bullet was lodged in his brother's neck and he had to arrange for an emergency surgery to get it removed.

After the bullet was taken out, Kashif was shifted to the government-run BRD medical college and hospital, where he is under observation for another 48 hours, doctors said.

No motive was found behind the shooting of Dr Khan's brother said police sources.

Hours after the shooting, Gujarat lawmaker Jignesh Mevani targeted the BJP-led government for the attack on Kashif. Mr Mevani tweeted "Dr Kafeel saved children when Yogi Adityanath government had no money to pay for oxygen. He was put behind bars. Now his brother is shot at. Thank you so much Modi ji for what your 'acche din' are offering us - hate speeches, violence, bloodshed and bullets."

On April 25, Dr Khan got bail from the Allahabad High Court. The bail was given after he spent eight months in jail. The court said there was no direct evidence of negligence on his part.

Dr Khan's family insists he was made a scapegoat in the case as he was in-charge of the paediatrics ward, when the tragedy happened.

More than 60 children, mostly infants, had died at BRD hospital in Gorakhpur within a week in August, 2017. There were allegations that the deaths occurred due to disruption in oxygen supply. The BJP-led Uttar Pradesh government, however, had denied that shortage of oxygen led to the deaths.

courtesy : NDTV.com

 

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Bengaluru (PTI): Amid claims that Siddaramaiah's confidants are being targeted within the ruling Congress in Karnataka, following recent actions against some party leaders, senior MLA K N Rajanna on Friday alleged that the chief minister is "helpless" and under some "compulsion" as he is not standing up to defend his people.

The comments from the former minister, who is considered close to Siddaramaiah, came after Congress took action against some of its minority community leaders--considered close to the CM--following allegations of an internal conspiracy against the party candidate in the Davanagere South bypoll held on April 9.

Rajanna himself was sacked from the Ministry last August on the instructions of the party high command, following his alleged comments criticising top party leader Rahul Gandhi's "vote theft" charge.

"There will be vested interests in the party who will try to conspire against those who have been loyal to the party and want the party to grow for the welfare of the people. Nothing can be done about it. What we expect from our chief minister is that when such a situation arises, he should stand strong, but he is not standing and that is a sad thing," Rajanna said in response to a question whether Siddaramaiah's followers were being targeted in Congress.

Speaking to reporters here, he said, "... I don't know what his thinking is. But we did not expect such a helpless situation from Siddaramaiah."

When asked who had made Siddaramaiah helpless, the former minister said, "I won't say who, you understand it yourself."

"People are saying that those close to Siddaramaiah are being targeted...I don't know what compulsions Siddaramaiah has. If he tells, we can know, but he won't say. I don't know under what compulsion he is following this neutrality," he said, adding that the CM is helpless and a person becomes "helpless" when his/her voice shrinks.

The Congress recently suspended MLC K Abdul Jabbar from the party's primary membership and relieved another MLC Naseer Ahmed from the post of chief minister's political secretary. This action came after a group of Muslim leaders accused members of their own party of "conspiracy" to defeat the official candidate in Davanagere South.

Following the action against Jabbar and Naseer Ahmed, speculation is that Housing Minister B Z Zameer Ahmed Khan may also face action during the next cabinet rejig, as these three wanted a Muslim to get the bypoll ticket in Davanagere South, which the party gave to the late MLA Shamanur Shivashankarappa's grandson Samarth Mallikarjun. They also did not actively participate in campaigning.

Citing a Kannada saying that there is no punishment for the mistakes committed by the King, Rajanna, in what seemed to be a veiled dig at Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, asked, "Does sharing a stage with a person (referring to Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev) who said, 'Who is Rahul Gandhi? I don't know,' not amount to indiscipline?"

Referring to AICC chief Mallikarjun Kharge's statement on whether poverty could be ended by taking a dip in the Ganga at Prayagraj, he said, "...but this person (again referring to Shivakumar) goes there and compliments UP CM Yogi Adityanath for arrangements made for the Kumbh Mela. He also goes to Ambani family marriage, while Rahul Gandhi did not even accept the invitation."

"I'm not saying that action should be taken against this person too, but the party will have to observe these things also," he added.

Rajanna further pointed out that no action was taken when veteran Congress leader and late MLA from Davanagere South Shamanur Shivashankarappa made a speech seeking votes for BJP candidate B Y Raghavandra during Shivamogga Lok Sabha polls, and asked if this did not amount to indiscipline.

"The same people were at the helm then (referring to Shivakumar as KPCC chief), even a verbal warning was not given to him (Shivashankarappa)," he said, adding that, similarly no action was taken when Samarth Shamanur filed his nomination in Davanagere South before the party announced its candidate for Davanagere South-- that was also an act of indiscipline.