Man’s body exhumed after family alleges organ theft at Odisha hospital

Police said the autopsy was conducted after she was exhumed from the cemetery. (Representative)

Berhampur, Odisha:

The hospital authorities handed over the body to the family members of the deceased without conducting any post-mortem and did not inform the local police station in Cuttack about his death, he said.

The family members of the deceased buried his body in a graveyard at Tikarabaju under Baliguda police station limits in Kandhamal district on October 17, police said.

Inspector-in-charge of Baliguda police station, Sushant Sahu, said the post-mortem of the body was conducted at a sub-divisional hospital after it was exhumed from the graveyard.

“We are also investigating the allegations of organ theft of the deceased’s son. Full details will be known only after receiving the autopsy report,” he said.

Meanwhile, a team of Bhubaneswar-Cuttack commissionerate police visited the Cuttack private hospital for investigation following the complaint lodged in Kandhamal.

The hospital authority denied the allegation and said its doctors had performed decompressive craniectomy, a neurosurgical procedure.

“Our doctors had also informed the family member about the patient’s condition during treatment,” Susanta Behera, director of the private hospital, told media in Cuttack.

Meanwhile, Health Minister Mukesh Mahaling said he had ordered a departmental inquiry into the allegations.

Strong action will be taken if anyone is found guilty in this case, he added.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)