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BJMC Dean seeks details of Yerawada inmates availing treatment at SGH
On the night of Monday, Lalit Anil Patil, 34, who was admitted to ward number 16 of SGH, managed to give the slip to the hospital authorities
PUNE: After a Yerawada Jail inmate accused of running a drug ring from Sassoon General Hospital (SGH) managed to escape from the hospital on Monday, the dean of B J Medical College and SGH has asked for a status report on each of the prison inmates currently undergoing treatment at the hospital.
Dr Sanjeev Thakur, dean of B J Medical College and SGH, has asked the officials to conduct a thorough medical checkup of all prison inmates currently undergoing treatment at the hospital to determine whether or not they have to continue being treated at the hospital.
On Tuesday, the Yerawada Central Jail authorities had asked the SGH authorities to provide details of the prison inmates currently undergoing treatment at the hospital, including the number of inmates who no longer need to avail treatment at the hospital. As on Wednesday, there are eight Yerawada Jail inmates availing treatment in ward number 16 of SGH. Of the eight inmates, some have been admitted in the past few months. A senior doctor at SGH on condition of anonymity said, “Today (on Wednesday), a female Yerawada jail inmate was discharged from the hospital. There are now eight male prison inmates undergoing treatment at the hospital under various departments such as surgery, medicine and orthopaedics among others. We have issued a common letter to all the heads of departments, asking them to provide details of the jail inmates undergoing treatment under them. Once the details are received, the same will be provided to the dean and a decision will be taken.”
Also on Tuesday, the director of medical education and research (DMER), Dilip Mhaisekar, had said that he has called a probe into the matter. “I will constitute a high-level committee to probe the case to fix responsibility,” Mhaisekar had said.
On the night of Monday, Lalit Anil Patil, 34, who was admitted to ward number 16 of SGH, managed to give the slip to the hospital authorities. Last Saturday – following a raid by the Anti-Narcotics Cell in which Patil’s aide, Subhash Janaki Mandal, 29, was arrested for possessing 1.71 kg and 53 milligrams of mephedrone estimated to be worth ₹2.14 crores – Patil was accused of running a drug ring from the hospital premises.
The two incidents, coming within days of each other, have brought to the fore the lax security arrangements and oversight on the part of the hospital administration and Pune police. They have also put the spotlight on how SGH has become a haunt of Yerawada Jail inmates like Patil, who are often seen languishing in the hospital for months on end (for treatment or the lack of it).
Earlier, in June 2023, the National Investigation Agency (NIA), had informed the court that former encounter specialist and retired police inspector, Pradeep Sharma, was admitted to SGH for 43 days during which time he misused his liberty by meeting visitors, both convicts and wanted accused.
