Kanpur (UP), Jun 1 (PTI) After a 10-day deadlock between police and health authorities, the amputated right arm of an Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) jawan’s mother was finally deposited at the pathology department of Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi Memorial (GSVM) Medical College for histopathology examination, a top official said on Monday.
Doctors said the report could take between 20 days and a month to be completed.
The case triggered outrage after the severed limb remained locked inside the Railbazar police station’s ‘Maalkhana’ for days amid confusion over responsibility and alleged violations of biomedical waste disposal norms.
Nirmala Devi (56), mother of ITBP jawan Vikas Singh, who is assigned to the 32nd battalion in Maharajpur, was admitted to Krishna Hospital on May 13 after experiencing severe respiratory distress and cardiac complications.
Though her condition stabilised during treatment, her right hand allegedly began turning black.
On May 17, Singh shifted his mother to Paras Hospital, where doctors allegedly declared the hand gangrenous and performed an emergency amputation.
The situation escalated when the amputated limb was allegedly given to the family instead of being disposed of as biomedical waste or preserved for forensic examination, as required by medical protocols.
Following intervention by Commissioner of Police Raghubir Lal, an FIR was registered on May 25 against Krishna and Paras Hospitals over alleged gross medical negligence, including excessive delay.
The police sealed the amputated hand on May 20 at the direction of Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Haridatt Nemi, but repeated attempts by Railbazar police to deliver it to the medical college failed due to a lack of procedural coordination between the police and health authorities.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (East) Satyajeet Gupta confirmed that the amputated hand was finally submitted to the pathology department on Sunday. “The amputated hand has been deposited for histopathology examination. Further action will depend on the findings of the report,” he added.
Head of GSVM Medical College’s pathology department Lubna Khan clarified that the college did not have facilities for forensic pathology examination, which had initially been sought by the CMO.
“We have accepted the specimen for histopathology examination. The report may take between 20 days and one month,” she added, stating that the preserved limb would later be returned to the police.
Meanwhile, police teams have seized treatment records and CCTV footage from both hospitals, while notices have been issued to the concerned doctors for recording their statements.
The CMO has also served a show-cause notice to Paras Hospital for allegedly handing over the amputated limb to the family instead of following biomedical waste disposal and preservation protocols.
Defending the hospital’s actions, Paras Hospital unit head (sales and marketing) Nitin Saraswat said the surgery was conducted only after written consent from the patient’s relatives and in accordance with established medical procedures.
Hospital authorities maintained that Nirmala Devi’s condition remained stable and said they were cooperating with the investigation.
Commissioner of Police Raghubir Lal told PTI that the amputated arm, which was well-preserved in formalin according to prescribed norms, was sent to the medical college on Sunday. “It may no longer hold much relevance, but the examination is being conducted as part of due procedure,” he added.
Lal further said that following the CMO’s recommendation for a histopathology examination, discussions were held on whether the test should be conducted at a forensic laboratory or at the medical college.
He said the police and health department jointly decided to get the histopathology examination conducted at GSVM Medical College.
Accordingly, the severed hand was handed over to the medical college on Sunday.
Further action and medical procedures will now be carried out by the authorities concerned as per established protocol, Lal stated. PTI COR KIS MPL MPL MPL
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