Gorakhpur hospital tragedy: Azam Khan demands CBI inquiry into deaths of over 65 children

Senior Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Mohd Azam Khan on Monday demanded a CBI probe into the deaths of over 65 children at the Baba Raghav Das Medical College in Gorakhpur over the past few days. [caption id=“attachment_3022280” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Azam Khan. PTI[/caption] Blaming the deaths on negligence of doctors, the administration and the state BJP government, the former Urban Development Minister said that this was a case of murder and that guilty should be brought to book. The sequence of events that led to the massacre of 70 children in Gorakhpur’s Baba Raghav Das Medical College since 7 August is a damning indictment of the government machinery. First, it failed to pay the contractor who supplied liquid oxygen to the hospital, running up arrears in excess of over Rs 68 lakh, even when, as the supplier argued, the terms and conditions of the supply agreement said the pending amount would not exceed Rs 10 lakh. He also extended his condolences and sympathies to the families who lost their children in the tragedy. Former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and SP President Akhilesh Yadav is scheduled to be in Gorakhpur later on Monday where he will visit the BRD Medical College and meet the bereaved families.