Patna, March 2: The state government has constituted a task force to investigate into the alleged chopping off of hands of a 20-year-old daily wager for failing to repay Rs 300 debt to a contractor in Arwal district. But the hospital treating him allegedly has not made any attempt to arrange blood for him.

Talking to reporters on the sidelines of the inaugural function of the international conference on Right to Information in the state capital, chief minister Nitish Kumar said the government had taken cognisance of media reports highlighting the incident and had constituted the team. Director-general of police Abhayanand would monitor it. “I have asked the team to submit its report at the earliest,” Nitish said.

The victim, Ram Sagar, till late this evening was undergoing treatment lying on the floor of the plastic surgery department of Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH). He was allotted a bed in the trauma ward today.

Dr SRK Singh, who has been attending upon the victim at PMCH, said Ram’s wounds were not ready for the surgery yet. “He urgently needs at least four units of blood,” he said.

Unfortunately, the plastic surgery department has not made any attempt to arrange blood for the poor, illiterate patient till now. The head of the department, Dr Vidyapati Chaudhary, said the onus lied on Dr Singh as he had been treating the patient. Dr Singh passed the buck, saying the superintendent was responsible for granting permission to release blood from the blood bank for the needy whose attendants were not in a position to donate blood in exchange.

Hospital superintendent Dr OP Chaudhary said he had not received any requisition from the doctor concerned.

Contractor Sushil Kumar allegedly tried to chop off Ram’s hands at Arwal 10 days ago as the victim refused to go to Delhi with him and declined to repay the debt, saying he did not have money.

The accused, Sushil, arranges labourers for construction companies in Delhi from Arwal.

“As I pleaded that I could go only after Holi, Sushil got infuriated and demanded Rs 300 from me that I had borrowed from him. I did not have money to pay him back. He left abusing my family and me and later called me to a nearby village. When I went there, I saw Sushil had brought five other men with him. They started beating me black and blue,” said a distraught Ram.

He added: “The last thing that I remember is that they took an axe out and hit me on both my hands. My family members approached Kinjar police station to register a case but they refused to lodge an FIR as Sushil had bribed them.”