Bihar doc takes out mobile phone swallowed by prisoner during raid

The prisoner had swallowed the mobile phone, a prohibited item in jail, out of fear during a surprise inspection

The doctors at Patna’s Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences (IGIMS) Wednesday extricated a cellphone from the stomach of an undertrial prisoner who had swallowed it during a surprise inspection at the Gopalganj jail last Saturday, said medical superintendent Dr Manish Mandal.

The doctors said the mobile phone was lying in the antrum of the stomach of the prisoner. (Sourced)

“The mobile phone, measuring 3.5x2 inch, was lying in the antrum of the stomach of the prisoner. Dr Ashish Jha, an associate professor in gastroenterology department, took it out through endoscopy,” he added.

“While the endoscopy probe can go easily through the mouth, it is normally difficult to hold a foreign object as large as a mobile phone with the endoscope and take it out through the same route. Yet, our expert doctors completed the non-invasive procedure in around 30 minutes, even as my team of gastrointestinal surgeons was on stand by to cut open the stomach and take out the foreign object,” added Dr Mandal.

He said this was the first such bizarre case he had come across in his 25 year long career as a doctor.

The police took back the prisoner after completing the procedure in the outdoor patient department (OPD) of the IGIMS on Wednesday.

The prisoner, Kaiser Ali, 27, had swallowed the mobile phone, a prohibited item in jail, out of fear. He was talking on the cellphone when the police team raided the prison on Saturday. The matter came to light when Ali developed extreme abdominal pain and informed the jail authorities the same day.

The prisoner was immediately taken to the Gopalganj district hospital where an X-ray confirmed the presence of a foreign object. Ali was then referred to Patna for treatment.

The Gopalganj police had arrested Ali on January 17, 2020, under provisions of the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. He has been in jail for the last three years.

Use of mobile phones by inmates inside Bihar prisons has been a cause of concern for the police and jail officials.