A 75-year-old unconscious man was left to die on a road as two police stations in Howrah allegedly fought for more than three hours over jurisdiction.

Padam Prasad Panth, a Nepali national, was declared dead on arrival when an officer finally took him to Howrah District Hospital. The police suspect Panth was an asthmatic as an inhaler was found in his shirt pocket.

Howrah police superintendent N.K. Singh ordered a probe into the role played by Bantra and Shibpur police stations. “The report will come in three days,” said Singh.

Panth, who had worked as a factory guard in Howrah several years ago, was staying with his friend Rajkumar Chhetri in Ghoshpara. He had arrived from Nepal early on Wednesday.

Around 6.20am, Ghoshpara residents saw him running after a private bus he got down from moments before. He soon ran out of breath and slumped in front of a shop on NS Bose Road.

“He was shaking violently and then passed out,” said Kartick Mal, a local resident.

A group soon gathered on the spot but no one took the aged man to hospital fearing police harassment. A nursing home was only 600 yards away.

The residents, instead, called Bantra police station. A team arrived around 7.30am but the officers refused to take Panth’s responsibility, saying the spot where he was lying was under the jurisdiction of Shibpur police station.

A traffic officer was passing by around 9am. Seeing Panth’s plight, he called Shibpur police station but the duty officer there allegedly told him to contact Bantra police. Around 11am, the officer arranged for a cycle van and took Panth to hospital. His son, who lives in Nepal, has been informed about the death.