Week on, Sangrur eye patients recover, but no sight of accused
Police say main accused, a salon owner from Khanna, is expected to surrender ‘in a day or two’ after solution provided at hair treatment camp led to eye infections on March 16.
A week after more than 70 cases of eye infection were reported in Sangrur after they participated in a hair treatment camp on March 16, police said the main accused, Amandeep Singh, who owns a salon in Khanna near Ludhiana, is yet to be arrested.
“He is expected to surrender in a day or two,” deputy superintendent of police Sukhdev Singh said on Monday. His accomplice, Tejinder Pal Singh, an advocate from JP Colony in Sangrur, was arrested last week.
On March 23, station house officer (SHO) Manpreet Singh visited the absconding accused’s family at Khanna. He asked Amandeep’s mother to convince her son, who faces non-bailable charges, to surrender before the authorities. He assured her that her son would be dealt with fairly and a thorough investigation into the contents of the hair oil used during the treatment would be conducted.
During the camp, which was organised without permission at the Kali Mata Devi Mandir in Sangrur, an oil was given to attendees to apply on their scalps. They were asked to wash it off later. According to reports, once the solution was washed off, participants began experiencing intense pain and redness in their eyes, along with fever.
A first information report was registered under Sections 124 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt by use of acid, etc.) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Samhita (BNS) and the Drug and Magic Remedies Act on the complaint of Sukhveer Singh, a resident of Ajit Nagar in Sangrur, who was among those affected. The case named Tejinder Pal Singh of JP Colony and Amandeep Singh, the owner of the salon in Khanna, as accused.
The salon was sealed by district ayurveda officer Raman Khanna in Ludhiana on March 18. The authorities have not been able to recover the oil yet and the probe is pending till Amandeep appears before the police. The department affixed a notice at the salon, asking Amandeep to join the probe and facilitate the chemical analysis of the oil used in the camp.
Sangrur deputy commissioner Sandeep Rishi said stricter enforcement of rules for health camps would be ensured. “We will make sure that no such camps are organised without authorisation in future,” he added.
