Botched surgeries: Doctor arrested

Bilaspur: The surgeon, who conducted sterilisation surgeries on 83 women at a state-run camp which claimed the lives of 12 women in Pendari village in Chhattisgarh's Bilaspur district, has been arrested.

Laparoscopic surgeon Dr R K Gupta was taken into custody from his relative's place in neighbouring Balodabazar district late last night, Inspector General of Police, Bilaspur Range, Pawan Dev told PTI today.

He has been charged with section 304 II (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and other relevant sections of IPC, the IG said.

Incidentally, Dr Gupta was honoured on Republic Day this year for conducting 50,000 surgeries in his career.

Dr Gupta was suspended on Tuesday and an FIR was lodged against him in connection with deaths of women who underwent botched tubectomies procedure at the sterilisation camp in Pendari on the outskirts of Bilaspur town on Saturday.

As many as 13 women have died due to botched surgeries at different sterilisation camps held under the National Family Planning programme in the home district of Health Minister Amar Agrawal- Bilaspur, in the past three days.

Of the 83 women who were operated upon at?Nemichand Jain Cancer and Research Centre at Pendari village of Takhatpur block on November 8, 12 of them?died, while Chaiti Bai, who passed away yesterday, was the lone casualty from the camps at Pendra block where around 56 women underwent surgeries at three different camps on Monday.

As per the officials, around 56 women underwent surgeries at sterilisation camps held in Pendra, Gaurela and Marwahi, located around 120 kms away from Bilaspur district headquarter on November 10, two days after the Pendari sterilisation camp.

Chaiti Bai, belonging to Baiga vulnerable tribe, was among around 26 women who were admitted to the Bilapsur district hospital?yesterday after they developed?complications following the surgeries at Community centre at?Pendra.

"As a precautionary measure we are shifting all the women who underwent surgery in Pendra to hospitals of Bilaspur," Borah said.

Sixty-eight women, operated in Pendari camp are already undergoing treatment at different hospitals of Bilaspur, he added.

Under attack from opposition Congress which demanded his resignation, Chief Minister Raman Singh had announced a high-level probe and suspended four officials, including the Chief Medical and Health Officer of Bilaspur and transferred Director, Directorate Health Services Kamalpreet Singh.