More than 100 Congress supporters staged a two-hour-long demonstration within the premises of Central Institute of Psychiatry (CIP) at Kanke on Tuesday demanding a judicial probe into the recovery of a body of a patient who had been missing for over a week.
The group, led by Madan Mahto, who is the state chief of Indian National Congress Revelation Team, blocked the entrance to the director's chamber for over an hour, alleging patient Bhola Pandit (45) of Jamshedpur had been murdered.
Pandit, a resident of Tatanagar Station area of the steel city, was the son of late Ram Dhani Pandit. He was admitted to CIP on June 15 and had been missing from the hospital since July 4. His partially decomposed body was found in the premises on Sunday, July 16.
Ranchi's CIP is one of the premier mental health institutions of the country. Set up in 1918, it now has over 500 in-patients, and is spread over 210 acre with 16 wards (nine for male, six for female patients, including a family unit). Its director in-charge C.R.J. Khess described the incident as unfortunate, saying they launched a search for Pandit the moment they got to know he was missing.
"Such a thing has happened at CIP for the first time. The patient was disoriented and since the day he went missing we had carried out searches. We even undertook a search at Ranchi railway station and the main bus terminus," he said, adding that they were investigating the case.
But the Congress leader wasn't convinced.
"We have got to know from a section of the CIP staff that Pandit,w ho was suffering from mental problems, had slapped security official Virender Singh and had gone missing on July 4. His body was recovered in a decomposed condition inside the institution's premises on July 16. We suspect foul play and demand a judicial probe as it is a serious issue at a Union government mental health centre," Mahto said, adding that they wanted a criminal case to be lodged against the security official too.
Khess insisted it would be premature to jump to conclusions. "We do not think there was any issue between the security official and the patient. However, everything is being investigation," he said.
Kanke police station OC Rajiv Ranjan said a case of unnatural death had been lodged and the body sent for post- mortem at RIMS on Monday.
"A case of unnatural death has been lodged based on the complaint registered by CIP doctor Neeraj Singh Yadav on Monday. The body was in decomposed condition and it will only be clear if it is a case of murder after we receive the post-mortem report," said the police officer.
Congress supporters alleged CIP was trying to hush-up the case.
"We have been told that a two-member team comprising Khess and Dr Nishant Goyal was conducting a probe. But we doubt if the probe will be fair. We have written to Union health minister J. P Nadda, director of the directorate general of health service Jagdish Prasad, chief minister Raghubar Das, National Human Rights Commission and Ranchi deputy commissioner Manoj Kumar, demanding a judicial probe into the incident," said Mahto.
