In the Baghpat district of Uttar Pradesh, two employees at a government hospital have been booked for forcing a lower-level employee to mix critical tuberculosis (TB) patient’s phlegm with toxic substances in the food and drinks the hospital purchased for the Deputy Chief Medical Officer (CMO).
According to reports, Dr Yashveer Singh, Deputy CMO of Baghpat district hospital and Baghpat district TB officer, asked a Class 4 employee to buy food for him and other family members, according to the police. Those arrested have been identified as Jabbar Khan, TB/HIV coordinator, and Musheer Ahmed, technician. Jabbar and Musheer are currently absconding.
Meanwhile, Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Dr. Tirath Lal has ordered a departmental investigation into the matter. He also directed the lab where such samples are stored to be shut down. On Monday (7th October), Dr. Yashveer Singh filed a police complaint at Baghpat Kotwali police station.
The police said that Dr. Yashveer Singh shared the audio clipping in which Jabbar Khan was heard telling a Class 4 employee, Tinku, to mix the sample in the food. This sample was collected from a patient suspected of having the harmful multidrug-resistant (MDR) strain of tuberculosis. Notably, MDR test is performed on those in the critical stage of the TB.
“Tinku has given me the recording of his telephonic conversation with Jabbar and Musheer claiming that his conscience didn’t allow him to mix the sample of a critical TB patient in the food for me and my family. I have informed CMO Dr. Tirath Lal and later filed the FIR,” Dr. Singh said in the FIR.
Dr Yashveer Singh further claimed, “I live in the official bungalow near the hospital with my wife and two sons. I have lost 5 kg in the last one month. I will go for a check-up to rule out the possibility that the accused might not have mixed the poisonous sample in food served to me earlier. Tinku is sometimes asked to bring food for me and the family when their domestic help remains absent.”
Meanwhile, Arpit Vijayvargiya, Superintendent of Police in Baghpat, stated that stringent action will be taken against them due to the gravity of the crime.
Notably, the police have filed a case under BNS sections 105 (culpable homicide that is not regarded murder), 62 (attempt to commit severe offences punishable by imprisonment), and 61(2) (participant in a criminal conspiracy).
