Gorakhpur tragedy: Owner of oxygen supply company nabbed

Manish Bhandari, the owner of Pushpa Sales Pvt Ltd, which had snapped oxygen supply to the BRD Medical College over unpaid bills resulting in the death of 31 children, was arrested by the Gorakhpur police on Sunday. He was nabbed while making an attempt to escape to Bihar.

Bhandari was the final nail in the BRD tragedy; all nine accused have been arrested by police. Eight accused including ex-Principal Dr Rajiv Mishra, his wife Dr Purnima Shukla, Head of Encephalitis Ward Dr Kafeel Ahmed Khan, Head of Anaesthesia Department Dr Satish Kumar, Chief Pharmacist Gajanand Jaiswal, Account Departments clerks Udai Pratap Sharma, Sushil Tripathi, and Sanjay Pandey are already in the custody of Gorakhpur Police.

Facing Non-bailable Warrant and the fear of his properties being attached for evading arrest, Bhandari had submitted an application in the Gorakhpur Court for surrender on Saturday.

Based on a tip-off that Bhandari may sneak into Bihar until he was allowed by the court to surrender, the cops laid traps on all routes leading to Bihar. Bhandari was arrested from Deoria by-pass early Sunday morning when he was trying to cross over to Bihar.

During interrogation, Bhandari revealed the places where he had taken shelter to evade arrest. The Gorakhpur Police may also initiate action against those who had given him shelter. He will be produced in court on Monday.