Hospital staff dump mentally ill patients; 1 found dead, 1 missing
On Monday, police detained Harendra Kumar AND Sranjan, who said that the patient who was in relatively better condition was left at Tengra More, 20kmfrom the hospital, while the second patient, who was more critical, was abandoned near a templenear Pokhrahi village, 20km from the Sadar hospital.
Two staffers of a government-run hospital in Bihar’s Aurangabad district allegedly tied two mentally ill patients with bedsheets and dumped them 20km from the premises, the state police said on Friday, adding that one of the patients died and the other was missing.
The incident came to light on November 12, when police found an unidentified body of a 50-year-old man, wrapped in a red-and-white bed sheet that had the Rashtriya Swasthya Mission inscribed on it.
Police now say that two members of the Model Sadar hospital in Aurangabad– Harendra Kumar, who loaded the patient on stretcher, and stretcher staff Sranjan Kumar –allegedly wrappedthe two mentally ill patients with bedsheets, put them in the hospital ambulance, and drove to two remote villages where they left the two men.
In a statement to the police, Suranjan Kumar said that the two men were alive while being taken on stretcher. One of the patients later died while another is yet to be traced. Police said that the investigation is on and the search has been initiated for the missing patient.
Police said that the duo alleged that they complied with the order of deputy superintendent Kumar Ashutosh and hospital manager Hemant Rajan. “The hospital authority said that the two patients were admitted six to seven days ago and both were making the hospital premises dirty. The hospital authorities asked us to leave them in remote areas,” Harendra and Suranjan told the police during investigation.
On Thursday, police lodged a first information report against Kumar Ashutosh, Hemant Rajan, supervisor Shailesh Kumar Mishra, Harender Kumar, ambulance driver Shiv Shankar Kumar, and stretcher staff Suranjan and Dharmpal. The FIR was registered on the basis of the statement of the sub-inspector Deepak Kumar Rai under section 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
“We have registered an FIR and started investigation. No arrest have been made so far. The searches for the second patient is also on,” said Aurangabad SP Ambrish Rahul.
Police got a break in the case when an eyewitness said that he saw an ambulance throwing out the body near Pokhrahi Temple on the wee hours on November 12.
“An unnatural death case was registered with the police station on November 14 while police circulated the details of the unknown person to his identity but the deceased was yet to be identified till date,” said the station house officer of Barun police station, Sourabh Kumar.
The district administration ordered a probe and constituted a three-member team, which submitted its report on Thursday.
Kumar said that the police team scanned the CCTV footage installed in and around the spot as well as the hospital premises. In the hospital footage, police found that the staff put two patients inside the ambulance.
Police first questioned hospital manager Hemant Rajan, who said two patients were referred to Sasaram-based Narayan Medical College and Hospital. When police asked him for related papers, he could not provide them, police said.
On Monday, police detained Harendra Kumar and Sranjan, who said that the patient who was in relatively better condition was left at Tengra More, 20kmfrom the hospital, while the second patient, who was more critical, was abandoned near a templenear Pokhrahi village, 20km from the Sadar hospital..
The postmortem report says that the viscera has preserved sent to the FSL to ascertain the exact reason of death.
Kumar Ashutosh said he was being framed. “From day one of joining the hospital, I tried my best to improve quality. Some people were trying to tarnish my image. I am innocent in the matter,” he said.