Encephalitis toll reaches 304 in UP

As many as 304 children have died this year due to encephalitis at one medical college in Gorakhpur. Nine children succumbed to the deadly virus at the BRD Medical College in the past 24 hours. The dead include one child each from Deoria, Gorakhpur, and Kushinagar districts of eastern UP while 19 patients suffering from encephalitis have been admitted to the hospital in the past 24 hours. According to official sources, BRD Medical College got 1,504 encephalitis patients this year, of which 304 died. “You can imagine the magnitude of this disease because you have the death toll from just one hospital. Hundreds of patients are being admitted and are dying in private nursing homes and hospitals and there is no record of that,” said senior BJP MLA Dr Radha Mohan Das Agarwal, who belongs to Gorakhpur and is a practising physician himself. Meanwhile, local BJP MP Mahant Yogi Adityanath undertook a march along with around 500 supporters from different organisations to protest the increasing encephalitis toll and the poor civic amenities. The procession began from BRD Medical College and reached the commissioner’s office after covering important places of the town. The march culminated in a public meeting at the commissioner’s office.

*** Warrant against Adhir Pranmoy Brahmachary Berhampore, Sept. 27

A Berhampore court has issued an arrest warrant against minister of state for railways Adhir Chowdhury in a murder case. Trinamul Congress leader Kamal Sheikh was gunned down in front of his daughter on May 15, 2011. The police filed its chargesheet against nine persons for the murder. Mr Chowdhury’s name figured in the chargesheet. Chief judicial magistrate of Berhampore Oli Biswas on Thursday issued the arrest warrant against Mr Chowdhury. Berhampore court sources said that the police first filed a 70-page chargesheet at the CJM court on Thursday. Mr Adhir Chowdhury had been named in the chargesheet as a conspirator in the murder of Murshidabad district Trinamul Congress leader Kamal Sheikh. On May 15, 2011, two days after the Trinamul Congress came to power, Sheikh was brutally murdered near Berhampore Mohun Cinema crossing when he was returning home on his motorcycle along with his daughter. Mr Chowdhury’s name figured under Section 120-B of the IPC as a party to a criminal conspiracy along with nine murder accused. Seven of them had already been arrested but one Raju Pal died. Another accused Lochon Das was absconding. A warrant had been issued against him also.