Balurghat hosp: Tribal patient’s disappearance triggers protest

BALURGHAT: Tension prevailed at the Balurghat District Hospital on Sunday as hundreds from the tribal community gathered to protest the mysterious disappearance of a patient under treatment for the past eight days.

Sunil Oraon (55), residing a mile from Amritakhanda Gram Panchayat in Balurghat Block, was admitted on July 5 owing to declining health. According to hospital sources, Oraon showed signs of recovery by July 6 evening, prompting his family to return home. However, on the morning of July 7, he was found missing. Shocked family members alleged that neither hospital nurses nor health workers were aware of his disappearance, although other patients claimed he had been missing since midnight on July 6.

The protest turned chaotic as demonstrators vandalised hospital property with bamboo sticks before the intervention of a substantial police contingent from Balurghat Police Station. Their arrival helped restore normalcy.

Despite the family’s formal complaints to the Balurghat Police Station; the Chief Medical Officer of Health (CMOH) of South Dinajpur and the hospital superintendent, Oraon remains unaccounted for even after eight days. The hospital is equipped with CCTV surveillance and temporary security guards with a police outpost on its premises. Krishnendu Bikash Bag, Superintendent of Balurghat District Hospital, assured: “The family has lodged a formal complaint and the police have initiated an investigation. We are also conducting an internal inquiry to determine how the patient disappeared from our premises.” Investigations are on.