Police in northern India have arrested a doctor in connection with the deaths of scores of children at a government-run hospital in August.
More than 60 children died at BRD Medical College in Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh state, due to complications resulting from premature delivery, various diseases such as encephalitis and alleged shortage of oxygen between August 10-14.
Kafeel Khan was in charge of the acute encephalitis syndrome ward at the BRD hospital and was sacked after the August crisis.
He was arrested on Saturday on charges including dereliction of duty, said senior police official Amit Pathak.
Khan is the third person to be arrested in the case. The hospital's former principal Rajiv Mishra and his wife Poornima are currently in judicial custody and charged with negligence.
More than 400 children have died at the hospital since August 1, NDTV news channel reported citing officials.
The local administration and hospital officials maintain that the deaths were not because of lapses at the facility. They said that a high number of child fatalities have been seen in previous years and are due to infections and an encephalitis outbreak during the monsoon season.
The BRD hospital is the biggest medical facility in the eastern part of Uttar Pradesh state, which is among India's poorest regions with the country's worst child mortality rates, Kumar said.
The region also sees infections and outbreaks of encephalitis every monsoon season that claim hundreds of lives.
