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Ambulance driver, health worker ‘dump’ injured man in drain
GHATSILA: A 40-year-old man being taken to hospital was allegedly dumped in a drain where he was exposed to heavy rains for 22 hours before villagers alerted authorities,
GHATSILA: A 40-year-old man being taken to hospital was allegedly dumped in a drain where he was exposed to heavy rains for 22 hours before villagers alerted authorities, police said on Tuesday.
The person, said to be mentally deranged, was admitted on Monday evening to a Jamshedpur hospital, where he was in a “critical” condition owing to pneumonia, multiple sources told HT.
The incident in southeast Jharkhand created furore and cast suspicion on the ambulance driver besides a police chowkidar and officials of Ghatsila sub-divisional hospital, which had referred him to MGM Jamshedpur, 45 km away.
Authorities across the operation passed the blame even as doctors attending the man, whose name was yet to be known, said he had infections in wounds on a leg that might be amputated.
The story began on Saturday when a civic-body official got information about an injured man lying unattended in Dhalbhumgarh market of East Singhbhum. “I rushed to the spot and arranged for his treatment,” said Dhalbhumgarh panchayat member Ratna Mishra. “We arranged a van-rickshaw to transport the man to the local health centre. There, the doctor referred him to MGM after first aid.”
It was then a private ambulance was called with help from police. Dhalbhumgarh police station SHO T Khan said he asked Sujit Dey, who owned an ambulance, to take the patient to Ghatsila sub-divisional hospital. “I asked Bauri, our chowkidar, to accompany the patient along with Bikram Rathore, the driver. I made the paper for payment of the ambulance,” he said.
Ghatsila hospital Medical officer Shankar Tudu said, “We could not entertain the patient, as the CMC paper referred him to MGM. After that, we have no information about the matter.” Dhalbhumgarh police maintain the local CMC had “accepted” the patient, but the block’s medical officer claim he was never admitted.
