Bhubaneswar: The AC compressor explosion on the Hi-Tech Hospital premises in the capital city on December 29 and the subsequent developments took a tragic twist on Thursday. Four people were injured in the accident and were undergoing treatment in the ICU of the hospital.
One of the victims, identified by the hospital as Dilip Samantray, succumbed to his burn injuries on December 30 and was cremated by his family following a post-mortem. Unable to bear the tragedy of Dilip’s death, his wife Somashree committed suicide on the following day.
The incidents took a dramatic turn on Thursday evening when another patient, identified by the hospital as Jyotirmoy Mallik, came out of the ICU and declared that he was Dilip Samantaray. Taken aback by the developments, the hospital authorities summoned his father to ascertain the patient’s identity. During talks with his father and the doctors, ‘Jyotirmoy’ said he was Dilip Samantaray and answered all the queries of the doctors regarding his residence, job, in-laws, etc. accurately.
Amid the confusion over the identity of the patient, the hospital authorities called the police who are now investigating the matter.
Talking to the media, Dr Sita Padhy, CEO of Hi-Tech Hospital, said, “We had admitted four patients of the agency who sustained burn injuries following the blast at the AC compressor. The job was outsourced and the patients were identified by the agency.”
Dr Padhy further said, “Since the patients had sustained 90 per cent burn injuries it was not possible to identify them by looking at their faces. We have given the best possible treatment but two of them succumbed to their injuries. Currently, we are treating two patients – Jyotirmoy aka Dilip, and Samchanchal Vishal.”
Meanwhile, Dr Amrit Pattajoshhi, a psychiatrist at Hi-Tech Hospital, said, “When Dilip had been admitted to the hospital, we had called his father to identify his son. His father identified the patient as Dilip seeing the dark mark on one of his legs. However, now things have become confusing as Jyotirmoy is claiming to be Dilip.”
When asked why Jyotirnmoy is claiming himself to be Dilip, Dr Pattajoshi said, “It could be due to delirium.” However, he could not provide any satisfactory answer as to how Jyotirmoy can answer all questions related to Dilip accurately.
It is worth mentioning here that the controversy arose after Jyotirmoy was taken out of the ICU on Thursday. When he claimed to be Dilip, the hospital authorities called his family members along with Dilip’s family members. Even a psychiatrist was called to examine him.
However, the confusion persists as the issue remains unresolved. Eventually, the matter has been entrusted with the police to ascertain the real identity of Jyotirmoy.
