The Patna SSP said that they had asked for the medical history and background of the two deceased inmates. (Express Photo by Prem Nath Pandey/Used for representational purpose)
Even as a Patna court granted police three-day remand of the secretary and the treasurer of a city-based NGO whose two inmates recently died, police said they have a strong case of negligence against them. Two women inmates, aged 40 and 17, of a shelter home at Rajiv Nagar, were reportedly brought dead to Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH) on Friday. The Patna administration, however, learnt about the matter on Sunday.
Patna Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Manu Maharaj told The Indian Express: “The postmortem report revealed no internal injury and rules out any foul play. The 40-year-old woman had been an old patient of schizophrenia and the 17-year-old girl died because of acute dehydration. But we have a strong case of medical negligence. It was the duty of the shelter home, run by Anumaya Human Resources Foundation, to ensure their proper medical treatment.”
NGO general secretary Chirantan Kumar and treasurer Manisha Dayal were arrested on Sunday. The Patna SSP added that they had been seeking the medical history and background of the two deceased inmates. The police said they have learnt that the NGO had received Rs 76 lakh annual grant for running the shelter housing over 70 girls and women, several of them suffering from mental illness.
Asked why police came to know about the deaths late, the SSP said: “Several inquest matters come to us every day. When we learnt it was a shelter home case involving medical negligence, we promptly acted.”
Chirantan Kumar, a Patna resident, and Manisha Dayal, a Gaya resident who used to flaunt her photographs with several politicians on Facebook, had partnered to run the Patna shelter home.
Chirantan Kumar’s Facebook profile shows him as director of AVN Solutions Consultancy as well as general secretary of Anumaya Human Resources Foundation, which has been running the Patna shelter since this April. Dayal has been an event manager and socialite. She has deactivated her Facebook account.
The NGO general secretary had earlier said one inmate was brought dead at PMCH, another died at the hospital. The claim was, however, refuted by PMCH medical superintendent Dr Rajiv Ranjan Prasad who said the two had been brought dead.
Senior RJD leader and former minister Abdul Bari Siddiqui said: “We demand a full probe into Manisha Dayal’s reported political connections and if her NGO fulfilled all criteria for run the shelter house.”