A woman from South 24-Parganas has lodged a police complaint against Diamond Harbour MP Abhishek Banerjee and 10 others, claiming that she had to amputate one of her legs after negligent treatment at a ‘Sebaashray’ medical camp.
The complainant, Malati Biswas, a resident of Akra in West Bengal’s South 24-Parganas district, submitted a written complaint to Rabindranagar police station, alleging that she suffered permanent disability after receiving treatment at the medical camp.
According to the complaint, Biswas had visited a ‘Sebaashray’ camp seeking treatment for persistent knee pain. Following a preliminary examination, she was allegedly prescribed medicines by doctors at the camp. Soon after taking the medication, her condition reportedly deteriorated, and the pain intensified.
When she returned to the camp with worsening symptoms, she was allegedly referred to MR Bangur Hospital. There, doctors reportedly informed her that the condition of her leg had become serious and referred her to Chittaranjan National Cancer Institute at Park Circus.
She was subsequently shifted to National Medical College and Hospital, where doctors allegedly had to amputate her leg after her condition continued to deteriorate.
Biswas has alleged that despite repeated attempts by her family to contact Banerjee and the organisers of the ‘Sebaashray’ camp following the incident, no assistance or response was forthcoming.
After the change in government in the state, she and her family approached the police and lodged a formal complaint seeking legal action. The allegations have revived earlier claims made by BJP leader Abhijit Das regarding the functioning of the ‘Sebaashray’ initiative.
Das had earlier alleged that the camps employed unregistered practitioners, medical students, including homoeopathy doctors, to provide allopathic treatment. He had also claimed that prescriptions issued at the camps often lacked basic medical details, including diagnosis and the treating doctor’s registration number.
He further alleged that mandatory regulatory approvals for operating ultrasound equipment had not been obtained and questioned the quality and validity of medicines distributed at the camps.