West Bengal: 16-Yr-Old Dies In Ambulance Where Mechanic Was Stationed As Doctor

Arjit Das (16), a student from Nirbhik district who was appearing for Madhyamik (Class 10) 2018 exams lost his life in an ambulance where an AC mechanic posed himself as a doctor. Hospital authorities had deployed the “doctor” (mechanic) in the ambulance while Arijit was being transferred to Kolkata on Thursday.

Arijit’s Illness And Doctors’ Response

Arijit who managed to write three papers of his Madhayamik examinations had complained of fever a day before his examinations began on Monday. On Wednesday, his father took him to Rampurhat Sub-Divisional Hospital as when there was no relief from fever despite medication and he even started complaining of severe back pain. In the hospitals, all the blood test taken failed to detect anything, hence, the family decided to shift him to Annapurna Nursing Home in Burdwan. There also doctors failed to diagnose his ailment and later Arijit started complaining of chest pain as well.

Arijit’s parents asked the nursing home to transfer him to Kolkata as there was no improvement in their son’s health. Notably, the authorities of nursing home agreed upon it with a condition that a doctor would accompany the patient in an ambulance. The distressed family had no other option but to agree upon the condition.

Moreover, Arijit’s family had paid a sum of Rs 16,000 taken as a charge of ambulance and the doctor who was deployed in the ambulance to look after the condition of a patient. Unfortunately, the teenage boy who wanted to appear for his history exam lost his life while he was being transferred from Burdwan to Kolkata by an ambulance.

“We agreed to pay Rs 8,000 for the ambulance and another Rs 8,000 for the doctor. But when we wanted to sit with my son and the doctor in the ambulance, the driver didn’t let us. We were asked to hire another vehicle,” said Ranjit, father of the late patient to The Times of India.

However, Ranjit and his elder brother, Swapan, tried very hard to sit in the ambulance and somehow they managed to get some space in the driver’s seat while the other family members hired vehicle.

How The Poor Family Come To Know About The ‘Fake’ Doctor?

While moving to Kolkata, Ranjith noticed that the so-called “doctor” accompanying him has had no idea how to operate an oxygen cylinder that was important for the teenage boy whose condition was turning to be critical. The driver fixed the oxygen cylinder instead of the doctor. Initially, the family ignored all their suspicions as they wanted to reach Kolkata first. The ambulance that had left Nababhaat around 8.30 pm on Thursday reached an upscale private nursing home (RTIICS) on EM Bypass in Kolkata around 11.30 pm. There the doctors declared that the patient was brought dead.

Amid the panic, the ambulance driver and “doctor” tried to flee away but were caught by the family members. The doctors of the nursing home questioned Sheikh Sarfarjuddin, the “fake doctor” who confessed that he was actually an air-conditioner mechanic.

Police Investigation In The Case

Later, the family filed an FIR with Purba Jadavpur police station, resulting in the arrest of Sheikh Sarfarajuddin (25), the fake doctor, and Tara Babu Sha (26), the driver.

Further investigation has been initiated against the Burdwan nursing home as it had charged Rs 16,000 for the ambulance and the ‘fake doctor’. Police are also probing whether the equipment in the ambulance like oxygen cylinder was functioning or not. “It seems that even the driver was part of a racket that duped patients in a similar fashion. The ambulance has been seized and investigations are on,” an officer of Purba Jadavpur Police Station told Times of India.

The authorities of Annapurna Nursing Home said the ambulance or the doctor has nothing to do with the nursing home as when the patient’s family requested for a transfer, we asked them to hire any of the ambulances parked outside the nursing home.

Moreover, the district health officials have assured to probe any foul play by Annapurna Nursing Home.