Accident Victim’s Body Exhumed After ‘Organ Theft’ Allegation Against Pvt Hospital In Cuttack

Cuttack: Police on Friday exhumed the body of a man after his family members from Baliguda in Odisha’s Kandhamal district accused a private hospital of organ theft.

Health Minister Mukesh Mahaling has ordered a departmental probe into the allegation. He also held discussion in this regard with the Commissioner of Police S Dev Datta Singh, sources said.

The deceased has been identified as Babula Diggal of Tikarbaju village. He was admitted to MKCG Medical College and Hospital in Berhampur after he met with the accident on October 13 and then taken to AIIMS-Bhubaneswar where he was allegedly denied admission due to some strike. His family members decided to shift him to a private hospital on October 15 as suggested by an ambulance driver and he died the following day, sources said.

However, the family was shocked on finding some stitch marks on his stomach when he had suffered injuries on head. Following which, they lodged a complaint with police.

“Since there were stitch marks in his stomach, we suspected that some of his organs were stolen by the hospital.,” Diggal’s son Isqak alleged.

He further alleged that the hospital authorities asked them to take the body without conducting a postmortem and also arranged an ambulance for the same.

Another relative said that the deceased’s kidney might have been removed.

Sources further said that Diggal was operated upon at the private hospital and the family had paid Rs 70,000 and later cleared over Rs 30,000 after the surgery.

The hospital authorities have denied the allegation. “The victim was admitted to the hospital three days after the accident. A surgery was conducted initially. He had undergone decompress craniotomy in which a portion of the skull is removed and then the bone flap is placed in the abdomen. It is put back after six months once the patient recovers,” Rudra Hospital manager Sushant Behera told the media.

He added that the family of the deceased had insisted on taking the body with postmortem.

A team of Commissionerate Police visited the hospital to probe the alleged organ trade racket following the complaint in Kandhamal.