New Delhi: At least 50 armed Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) personnel gathered at the Kanpur Police Commissioner’s office Saturday, as commandant Gaurav Prasad entered the premises to demand investigation into alleged medical negligence that led to the amputation of a constable’s mother’s hand at a private hospital in the city.
“I had sought an appointment from the Kanpur police commissioner to discuss the matter of our jawan’s mother’s wrong treatment. I was accompanied by some of my jawans and officers who waited outside while I spoke to him. The police have assured me of justice in the matter and a fresh investigation will be conducted,” Prasad told ThePrint.
Videos viral on social media Saturday showed several ITBP officials in uniform at the police commissioner’s office, but an ITBP spokesperson told ThePrint there was no “gherao” of the premises as was being alleged.
“There was no gherao or conflict. The commanding officer and a few jawans were present there for investigation. The extra jawans were removed from the premises to avoid confusion,” the spokesperson said.
Police commissioner Raghubir Lal also told the media there was no “gherao” or conflict with the ITBP as the police too wanted justice for the jawan’s mother.
Speaking to ThePrint, the jawan, Vikas Singh, alleged medical negligence, tardiness in lodging of FIR in the case, and dissatisfaction with the initial inquiry conducted by the Chief Medical Officer (CMO).
The case of the ITBP jawan’s mother came into focus on 19 May, when videos on social media showed the jawan at the Kanpur police commissioner office with his mother’s amputated hand in a thermocol box. Following this, Lal had referred the matter to CMO Haridatt Nemi for investigation.
However, on getting to know of Singh’s dissatisfaction with the “inconclusive” inquiry by the medical board, Lal has now ordered a fresh probe into the case.
“We have directed the CMO for a fresh probe and depending on the findings of the report, strict action will be taken,” the commissioner told reporters.
Calls made to the CMO went unanswered till Saturday evening.
VIDEO | Kanpur, UP: ITBP personnel reach the Kanpur Police Commissionerate in large numbers alleging inaction by the police in the case of medical negligence during treatment of a personnel's mother at a hospital, resulting in the amputation of her arm.
(Full video available on… pic.twitter.com/J9gtq8nCqE
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) May 24, 2026
Also Read: ‘Defensive medicine, risk aversion’ — why doctors are on edge over new law on death by negligence
The amputated hand
Singh told ThePrint that on 5 May, his mother Nirmala Devi, 56, was rushed to a government hospital in his village in Alimau in Uttar Pradesh’s Fatehpur district after she started to feel uneasy.
“She was diagnosed with high uric acid, but even after taking the medication for it, she was not feeling well and started getting breathless,” said Singh.
He then rushed his mother to an ITBP hospital in Maharajpur where the doctors recommended that she be taken to a multispeciality hospital.
“When we left the ITBP hospital, her health started to deteriorate despite being given oxygen in the ambulance. So, we had to take her to Krishna Super Speciality Hospital in (Kanpur),” he said.
Krishna Hospital is on the panel of the ITBP and its personnel can receive subsidised medical services there.
The doctors at Krishna Hospital allegedly made Singh sign documents granting permission to put his mother on ventilation when needed. “By the next morning, she had already begun to feel better but I noticed that her right hand had swollen and turned black. She was complaining of pain,” Singh said.
He added that in the next few hours, the doctors at the hospital applied an ointment on her hand and covered it with a bandage. “When my mother started complaining of excruciating pain, I asked the staff to remove the bandage. Her hand had swollen further and turned a deeper black,” said Singh.
Confused and angry, Singh moved his mother to another private hospital, Paras Hospital, where doctors told him that blood circulation had been cut off to his mother’s right hand and it was infected.
“They tried treating her but despite all efforts, on 17 May, her hand had to be amputated fearing that the infection would spread,” he told ThePrint, alleging “utter negligence” by doctors.
ThePrint reached out to Krishna Hospital, and a staffer said that the management was looking into the case. The staffer did not respond to any further queries. Paras Hospital could not be reached for a comment till Sunday morning.
He then visited Kanpur’s Railbazar police station on 17 May to lodge an FIR in the case but said that despite his requests, a complaint was not registered.
“On 18 May, I met another senior officer who again took all documents but did not register an FIR,” Singh added.
Angered by the lack of action, Singh took his mother’s amputated hand in a thermocol box to the police commissioner’s office. “The media present there made videos and the matter became viral. Subsequently, an inquiry was started by the CMO,” Singh said.
Four days later, the medical committee informed Singh that the inquiry had been completed.
“The inquiry report had no mention of a doctor or a drug or procedure that was at fault. It was a gholpatti (sham). They are all sell outs,” he alleged. The jawan then informed his seniors at ITBP who sought an appointment with Lal on 23 May.
“My seniors requested for a fresh probe and conclusive report with clarity on the cause of my mother’s situation,” he said.
According to the ITBP spokesperson, “prima facie there was negligence on the part of the hospital but no FIR was registered”. The medical board “conducted a perfunctory inquiry and tried to cover up lapses”.
“The hospital submitted some reports to the board stating that they had conducted all types of tests, based on which the board finalised the inquiry report, but those tests were not conducted at all. This is evident from the discharged certificate given by the hospital to the patient,” the spokesperson said.
“The police commissioner also raised several questions over the inquiry report of the board and has now directed a fresh probe.”
ITBP’s liaison officer Arpit Singh alleged several cases of “negligence” at Krishna Hospital.
“I have heard about a woman constable’s and an inspector’s death due to negligence at the same facility,” he said. According to sources, the woman constable was admitted at the facility for eight days for a kidney transplant, after which her condition worsened and she was declared dead.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)