Gorakhpur doctor Kafeel Khan has been added to a list of 81 history-sheeters, or persons with a criminal record, in the Uttar Pradesh district, and the police have said they will remain on their radar, reported PTI on Saturday. The names were added to the list on the instruction of Senior Superintendent of Police Jogendra Kumar.
In Gorakhpur district, there are a total of 1,543 history-sheeters. Kafeel Khan’s brother Adeel Khan told PTI that the criminal record against the doctor began on June 18, but the information was made available on Friday.
In a video message tweeted on Saturday, Kafeel Khan confirmed that his name was included in the list of 81 history-sheeters in the district. “The UP government has opened my history-sheet. They say that they will monitor me for life,” he said. “Good, give two security guards who will keep an eye on me for 24 hours. At least, I will be able to save myself from fake cases.”
Kafeel Khan said that the situation in Uttar Pradesh had taken such a turn that “criminals are not monitored, but the history-sheet of innocent persons is opened”.
Khan was a pediatrician at the Baba Raghav Das Medical College and Hospital in Gorakhpur, where 63 children died in 2017 due to lack of oxygen. He was suspended from his post and jailed for nine months after a criminal case of medical negligence, corruption and dereliction of duty was filed against him. But an Uttar Pradesh government inquiry last year cleared him of all charges and instead lauded his actions to save lives during the crisis.
The doctor was also taken into custody on January 29, 2020, for making allegedly inflammatory remarks during a protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act at the Aligarh Muslim University in December 2019. Nine months later, on September 1, the Allahabad High Court revoked the charges under the National Security Act against Khan, and asked the state government to release him immediately.
Despite being granted bail on February 10, 2020, Khan was not released from Mathura jail. Instead, the National Security Act was invoked against him three days later and his detention was extended. In August, Khan’s detention was again extended by three months till November 13. However, following the High Court order, he was freed from jail on September 2.
On December 17, the Supreme Court dismissed the Uttar Pradesh government’s challenge to the Allahabad High Court order quashing the detention of Kafeel Khan under the NSA.
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