The relatives of a patient who died at a private hospital demonstrated on Sunday after the authorities refused to release the body for non-payment of dues. The body was released after police intervened and the hospital reduced the outstanding amount.

Satyabrata Pandey, 25, a resident of Durgapur, was admitted to Kothari Medical Centre and Research Institute on September 1 with a critical ailment in the pancreas. He died at 5am on Saturday.

The hospital charged Rs 54,000 for the treatment, which the relatives refused to pay. “We are very poor. How could we pay such a huge amount,” said Debabrata Pandey, Satyabrata’s brother.

Following a plea from the police, the hospital reduced the amount to Rs 20,000, which the family paid. “The actual bill was Rs 70,000. As the family was poor, we had cut it down to Rs 54,000,” said medical superintendent Rajesh Chatterjee.