Covid positive patient sets room afire, flees hospital at Modinagar
A 26-year-old inmate of Dasna Jail who was under treatment at the SRM College Covid hospital at Modinagar, managed to break open his first floor room window and escape on Monday night. He had managed to fool the hospital authorities into thinking he had died in the room after he set his bed on fire and locked the door from inside.
The hospital is an L-1 category facility dedicated to treat mild cases of Covid-19. It has a capacity to treat 350 patients but had only 36 patients when the man was admitted and hence, he was the only one in the room.
Officials of the health department who went to the hospital on Tuesday morning said that they had initially been informed that the patient had died in the fire.
“He was lodged at the SRM College facility at 9.30pm on Sunday night from Dasna jail. At 9am on Tuesday the staff reported to the police that the door to his room was locked. The police went and broke open the door. When we were told that he had died in the fire, we immediately rushed to the spot,” said Dr. N K Gupta, Ghaziabad chief medical officer (CMO). “There were no signs of burning of any human body. Only the bedrolls were set afire and the window grille broken.”
The man was earlier booked under Indian penal code section 324 (voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means) and lodged at Dasna jail before he was shifted.
“I have directed the local police to register FIR against the suspect and nab him at the earliest. The suspect’s stund could have proved risky for other patients,” said Ajay Shankar Pandey, district magistrate. “This is why I have asked the police to register an FIR against him under stringent IPC sections. The cops have also been asked to increase security as well.”
The hospital falls under the jurisdiction of the Niwari police station whose station house officer (SHO) could not be reached for comment.
“We have registered an FIR against the suspect and investigating the incident. Our teams will nab him soon,” said Sunil Kumar Singh, circle officer of Modinagar.
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