Anup Mondal. File picture

Balurghat, June 26: A 25-year-old man from Balurghat has disappeared from NRS Medical College and Hospital in Calcutta where he had been admitted with jaundice, but his relatives claim that police refused to take down their complaint against the hospital authorities.

Instead, the police allegedly forced the relatives to stick to the hospital’s version and say the patient was “absconding on his own will”.

Anup Mondal, who worked in a private bank in Jalpaiguri, had initially been admitted to the Balurghat district hospital on June 14.

The youth was later referred to NRS where he was admitted to on June 17. When his brother-in-law, Subir Ghosh, and other relatives went to the hospital the next morning around 5.30, they did not find Anup in his bed.

“We immediately contacted the on-duty nursing staff. Initially, they appeared hesitant to say anything. But when we raised a hue and cry, the nurses said he had gone missing,” said Ghosh.

The brother-in-law added that the Rs 30 he had given Anup the night before was still there underneath his pillow. “But I had also given him a piece of paper with my cell phone number on it and that was missing,” said Ghosh.

“Around 8am, the nurses told us that a complaint had been lodged with Entally police station by the hospital authorities, saying Anup was absconding,” Ghosh added.

However, the relatives could not contact the superintendent of the hospital or any administrative official.

“We looked for Anup in all the wards of the hospital, but in vain. Ultimately, we went to the police station around 11am with a written complaint against the hospital authorities. But the duty officer refused to take it. Instead we were told to give it in writing that Anup had been absconding on his own will. In the end, we complied with the officer’s directive,” Ghosh said.

Ghosh said he regretted that they could not record the “correct version”.

Anup is the youngest of three siblings — both his sisters are married. His father Sripad Mondal, a farmer, said his son had become a graduate despite acute poverty. Anup used to earn by giving tuition to bear the cost of his education. He got a job in a private bank two years ago and was posted in Jalpaiguri.

“I am not ready to believe that a soft-spoken and shy person like Anup would bolt from the hospital on his own. There is something wrong, but I can’t pinpoint it. I can only pray that I get back my son,” said Mondal, his eyes welling up.

A senior police officer of Entally police station in Calcutta said: “We do not make people change their complaints.”