Asansol DCP injured in Ram Navami clashes set to regain full use of arm

ASANSOL: Arindam Dutta Chowdhury, the police officer who was injured in the post-Ram Navami clashes in Asansol last month, is now looking forward to resuming duty after a few months with a functional right arm, which was nearly ripped off in a crude bomb blast.



The deputy commissioner of police on Sunday sent Poila Baisakh wishes to his friends and family members from his room in a super-speciality hospital in Coimbatore, where his mangled forearm has been partially reconstructed and attached to his abdomen by a ‘flap’ surgery.

In a few weeks’ time, the forearm will be detached from the abdomen and Dutta Chowdhury will be allowed to return home, said Raja Sabapathy, head of the department of plastic surgery, hand and microsurgery, at Ganga Hospital, Coimbatore. The officer will, however, have to return later for another surgery to reconstruct the bones, tendons and nerves of his arm. He will also require long hours of physiotherapy to get back full use of his arm.

“We have removed the injured tissues and re-aligned the fragmented bones as far as possible. Some bones are lost. But the existing tissues need blood supply which remains blocked. So, we have attached his injured forearm to the abdomen by a flap surgery. Three weeks later, another surgery will be done to separate the arm from the abdomen. He could be discharged in four weeks’ time,” said Sabapathy. “The first surgery has been successful and we expect him to recover completely,” he added.

In fact, it was the initial surgery performed during the ‘golden hour’ at Durgapur Mission Hospital that involved fixing the fractured bones and removing dead tissues that helped save the officer’s arm. At the Coimbatore hospital, surgeons grafted skin and tissues taken from his abdomen and thigh; bones, gunpowder and other material were removed from the affected muscles.

“We are in constant touch with his wife, who is with him in Coimbatore. According to her, Dutta Chowdhury is now able to walk around the room and sit in a chair for quite some time. The condition of his arm is improving gradually,” a senior police officer said.