Cuttack, July 7: Additional director of health services Shayam Ghana Biswal today began a probe into the alleged negligence and delay on part of the doctors at Central Red Cross Blood Bank in supplying blood that resulted in the death of a child last April.

The move came after Orissa Human Rights Commission directed a probe into the incident that was reported by a vernacular daily on April 24.

According to the allegations, Subhas Biswal, 22, of Khalidhip village in Badamba, along with her mother-in-law Sukanti Pradhan, had admitted his one-year-old son at Sishu Bhawan on April 21. Subhas’s son was suffering from a kidney ailment.

The poor family was asked to arrange blood for transfusion after the condition of the child deteriorated. Subhas had gone to the Central Blood Bank, where he was allegedly misbehaved with and assaulted by the doctor in-charge J. Judhistir Rao Dora.

“I was manhandled by the doctor that day,” said Subhas.

According to Subhas, the doctor asked him to give blood and take blood in exchange despite him being underweight. However, later he was given an unit of blood.

“I pleaded with the doctor to help but he assaulted me and my mother-in-law. My son died hours after he was administered the blood… My son could have been saved if he had got the blood on time,” Subhas said.

On the other hand, the concerned doctor, J. Judhistir Rao Dora and the director of Central Blood Bank refuted the allegations.

“All the allegations are baseless as I had neither misbehaved nor assaulted anybody. I had just asked them to take blood and, in exchange, donate blood as there was a shortage. As soon as I got the requisition, I had issued blood immediately,” said Dora.

“The allegation that the patient died due to the delay in issuing blood is completely baseless as we have conducted an internal enquiry in this regard. Moreover, the patient had died two days after the incident,” said director of Central Red Cross Blood Bank Dr Benudhar Satpathy.

Additional director of health services Shayam Ghana Biswal today recorded the statements of the complainant and officials of the Central Red Cross Blood Bank and will soon submit report to the Orissa Human Rights Commission.

“Today, the statements of the complainant, the officials and the doctors at Sishu Bhawan were recorded and their records to verify the cause and timing of the death will also be investigated,” said Biswal.