Uniforms in garbage dump: CRPF points finger at hospital staff

An internal inquiry conducted by CRPF has found lapses on the part of hospital authorities and staff in Raipur by not following set procedures as a result of which uniforms and other belongings of martyred troops were found in a garbage dump recently in Chhattisgarh.

The inquiry findings, submitted to CRPF headquarters here, said two pairs of uniforms and few sets of jungle boots of CRPF personnel, killed in an encounter with Maoists, were thrown away in garbage dump after being considered as "medical waste" by the panel of doctors and lower rung employees at the hospital's autopsy centre.

Fourteen CRPF personnel, including two officers, were killed in a Naxal attack in the Chintagufa region of South Bastar's Sukma district on December 1.

Blood-stained uniforms and shoes of some of the CRPF personnel who were killed in the Naxal attack were later found in a garbage bin on the Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar Memorial Hospital premises, sparking outrage.

The report stated that according to set procedures, the uniform of a killed personnel and his other belongings should have been handed over by hospital authorities and the panel of doctors to the investigating officer of the local police for preserving it as "evidence".

"But it has been found that these items were considered medical waste and kept away. Subsequently, as there were no clear instructions, these items were thrown in the garbage dump where other medical waste of the hospital is usually dumped," a senior CRPF official said quoting the report.

The report further said after talking to police and force officials in the aftermath of the shocking incident, the CRPF found that no attempt was made to hand over these items either to the investigating officer or the CRPF officials.

"Both the police and CRPF officers thought that these things were being taken care off by the hospital authorities. Only after it was flashed on news channels did local police and senior CRPF officers got into action and retrieved the items," the officer said.

The para military force has now kept these items in one of its Raipur-based units and dispose them only after a final report of another inquiry constituted by the state government was completed.