A 22-year-old patient suffering from diarrhoea was found lying dead in a pool of blood on the premises of Infectious Diseases (ID) Hospital, Beleghata, on Friday morning.

The hospital authorities claimed that Farooq Sheikh had committed suicide by jumping from the third-floor toilet of the hospital.

An inquiry, however, has been ordered to find out how Farooq could go to the toilet while he was on saline.

A resident of Bongaon, in North 24-Parganas, Farooq had come to visit his sister Halima Bibi in Taltala, in central Calcutta, on July 24.

He fell ill on Thursday and his condition deteriorated rapidly, prompting Halima to take him to ID Hospital.

“He was admitted to the hospital around 6.30am on Friday. He was immediately administered saline. Around 8.50am, some employees found Farooq lying on the ground bathed in blood. They took him to the emergency ward, where he expired,” said C.K. Jana, the hospital superintendent.

Farooq, he said, had gone to the toilet, from where he jumped to death. “We have no clue what led him to kill himself. Diarrhoea patients are usually kept in the hospital for a day or two,” Jana added.

The mother of a patient admitted in the hospital said Halima had told him that her brother had been suffering from depression because of the ailment, but she never thought that he would commit suicide.

The deputy commissioner of police (eastern suburban division), Partha Sarathi Ghosh, said a probe has been ordered to find out whether there was any foul play in the death. “We are waiting for the post-mortem report.”