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Chaibasa: FIR filed in HIV transfusion case
“An FIR has been registered against one named person and others unknown under sections 125, 271 and 272 of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS) based on a written complaint by the father of one of the children. The CSH blood bank technician has been named in the FIR. Further investigation is ongoing,” Tarun Kumar, Chaibasa Sadar PS officer-in-charge (OC), told HT on Saturday.
The Chaibasa Sadar police station has registered a first information report (FIR) after five children suffering from thalassemia allegedly contracted HIV following blood transfusions at Chaibasa Sadar Hospital (CSH) in October 2025, officials said on Saturday.
The FIR has been registered in the wake of the Jharkhand high court (HC) ordering the state government to immediately register an FIR in the matter on Wednesday. The HC has also directed the state government to submit an affidavit along with a copy of the FIR during the next hearing on February 18.
“An FIR has been registered against one named person and others unknown under sections 125, 271 and 272 of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS) based on a written complaint by the father of one of the children. The CSH blood bank technician has been named in the FIR. Further investigation is ongoing,” Tarun Kumar, Chaibasa Sadar PS officer-in-charge (OC), told HT on Saturday.
HC advocate Md Shadab Ansari, who had moved the criminal writ petition in the matter in the HC on January 14, welcomed the development and said that the police investigation should be free, fair and neutral, fixing responsibility and accountability of all officials responsible for such grave negligence and lapses.
“The technician Manoj Kumar has already been dismissed, and he should not be made a scapegoat. If the investigation is done honestly and neutrally, all officials like the civil surgeon, who is the overall in-charge of the blood bank as per the National Blood Transfusion Policy (NBTP), the doctor-in-charge of the blood bank, and the policymakers and enforcement mechanisms at the state level to ensure safe blood transfusion will have to face the consequences of the law,” Ansari told HT on Saturday.
“The lives of children already battling a terminal disease like thalassemia have been further affected after they were infected with HIV due to the transfusion of virus-infected blood at the CSH. The families are now not just battling to save the lives of their children but are also bearing the brunt of social stigma. The investigation and the state government must conduct a fair and honest investigation so that such grave lapses never occur again,” Ansari added.
According to the complaint, the father of the victim stated that his seven-year-old daughter has been suffering from thalassemia since early childhood and has been undergoing blood transfusions at the CSH since 2019.
“My wife used to take her to the CSH regularly. My daughter started having frequent fevers in August 2025, and subsequent tests showed that she was HIV positive after testing at the HIV testing centre at the CSH in October 2025. She contracted HIV because she was given HIV-infected blood at the CSH. Lab technician Manoj Kumar does the job of blood testing and transfusion in the CSH blood bank. Later, I came to know that four other children were also given HIV-infected blood at the CSH. After this, our lives have become socially cursed, too. Had there been no such negligence by the hospital staff, my daughter would not have contracted HIV,” the police complaint read, a copy of which is with HT.
Officials said the state government has terminated contractual technician Manoj Kumar while suspending the then civil surgeon and doctor-in-charge of the CSH blood bank.
It has submitted an interim inquiry report in the HC, admitting procedural lapses, lack of infrastructure and negligence on the part of the staff. The state government has also announced ex gratia of ₹2 lakh each to the victim’s families.
