Bihar doc missing case: Critical of police inaction, IMA mulls demanding CBI probe

PATNA: With police still struggling to trace Dr

PATNA: With police still struggling to trace Dr. Sanjay Kumar, professor and head of the department of pharmacology, Nalanda Medical College (NMC), who allegedly went missing from Patna on March 1, the state chapter of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) is mulling seeking a CBI probe if the police failed to recover Kumar, said senior doctors on Sunday.

Members of IMA, doctors and family members of the missing doctor take out a protest march in Patna on Sunday. (Santosh Kumar/HT Photo)

On March 2, police had recovered his car along with two cell phones and a diary near Pillar no 46 at the Mahatma Gandhi Setu over river Ganga.

The IMA, along with family members of Dr. Kumar, and the Teachers’ Association of the College of Commerce, Art, and Science, took out a march from the IMA state headquarters to the JP roundabout, near Gandhi Maidan, a distance of 500 metres (approx), to protest the alleged police inaction on Sunday noon.

“We have kept all options open, including demanding a probe by a central investigating agency, if the state police fail to recover Dr. Kumar in the next couple of days,” said Dr. Ajay Kumar, former senior vice president of the IMA, Bihar unit.

The IMA was critical of the police effort and said they were lax in conducting a scientific probe.

“The police did not conduct a forensic examination of the car for two days after Dr. Kumar went missing near the Mahatma Gandhi Setu nor did it use sniffer dogs immediately after the incident on March 1,” said Dr. Ajay Kumar.

A section of the doctors believed that Dr. Kumar has been kidnapped, but the government is not willing to accept it as it would sully its image.

“The police may claim Dr. Kumar has gone missing, but we believe he has been kidnapped. We are not trying to politicise the issue but our patience is wearing thin because of the police’s failure to recover Dr. Kumar,” said Dr. Sachchidanand Kumar, former president of the IMA, Bihar unit.

IMA senior vice president Dr. Sunil Kumar said the IMA would intensify its agitation if the government failed to secure Dr. Kumar’s safe release.

Dr. Prem Kumar of the AIIMS faculty association regretted the lack of scientific investigation by the police and urged doctors to stay united and be prepared to agitate and go to any extent for securing Dr. Kumar’s safe release.

The family, however, was hopeful that Dr. Kumar will soon be traced.

“The police are doing their job. We have got assurance, but the police are still clueless in the case. Dr. Kumar was a responsible husband and father. There was no domestic tension. It is for the government to find out if there were any issues on the professional front,” said Saloni Kumar, wife of Dr. Kumar, and a retired professor at the College of Commerce, Art, and Science.