BJP worker dies in road accident; party alleges lapses in treatment at CPM-controlled cooperative hospital

Kasaragod: A 37-year-old BJP worker died in a scooter–car collision on the Kasaragod–Mangaluru National Highway on Monday night, triggering protests by the party leaders at the District Cooperative Hospital over alleged lapses in treatment. The deceased has been identified as N Harish Kumar, a resident of Arikady in Kumbla. He worked as a computer technician in Mangaluru. His father, Krishnan, a Velichappad (oracle), and his mother Ratnavathy predeceased him. He is survived by three elder brothers.

The two-hour protest ended around 10.30 am after BJP district president M L Ashwini and other leaders held talks with the police, and a complaint was filed against the hospital. Kumbla police said Harish’s Hero Maestro collided with a brand-new Baleno car at Perwad between 11 pm and 11.20 pm. Harish could have been on the wrong side of the six-lane highway, police said. The car overturned, and its windshield broke in the impact. The scooter was mangled.

A woman and her daughter, travelling in the car, were injured. They are admitted to a hospital in Kasaragod and are said to be stable. The first call to the ambulance was made at 11.20 pm. By 11.30 pm, an ambulance brought Harish to the District Cooperative Hospital run by the CPM in Kumbla. “He walked inside the hospital and appeared fine,” said BJP Kumbla mandalam secretary Pradeep Kumar.

The hospital said he had a small external injury on the right side of his head, abrasions on his elbow, swelling on his foot, and a deep wound on his left wrist.

BJP workers alleged that the hospital delayed scanning by waiting for his family to arrive. The hospital admitted they waited for his relatives, but said treatment was not delayed. “The family arrived in 30 minutes. The initial X-ray showed no fracture. CT scan of the head and pelvis was done by midnight,” said K Pradeep, PRO of the hospital. The hospital also tried to scan the thorax and spine, but he became restless, and the scanning was delayed, he said.

Former BJP district president Suresh Kumar Shetty, who was at the hospital, alleged that doctors failed to notice an injury in the scrotal region. Mandalam secretary Pradeep Kumar raised the same allegation. “Only after his friends reached the hospital around midnight, saw bleeding and alerted the staff did they attend to the injury. They did not do a full-body check. They only did first-aid,” he said.
However, the nursing superintendent said the staff had identified the wound before his friends arrived. “Harish did not complain of any pain there, but he insisted on urinating. When we tried to assist him, we noticed the injury. It was a deep wound, but not life-threatening,” she said.

According to the hospital, the scan reports arrived by 3.30 am, and there was no internal injury. After this, the doctor asked the nurses to take him to the minor operation theatre to suture the wounds on his wrist and scrotal region. “But as soon as he was taken to the OT, his oxygen levels dropped,” said the nursing superintendent.  His blood pressure also dropped. He was shifted to the ICU and put on ventilator support. “But his vitals never recovered. The family was informed of the prognosis," she said. Harish was declared dead at 8.24 am on Tuesday.

BJP workers and leaders alleged that the hospital admitted Harish but failed to provide proper treatment. “We asked whether we should take him to Mangaluru. There were no specialist doctors, only the duty doctor. The duty doctor said they could manage it,” said Pradeep Kumar. The hospital, however, contradicted him. “The duty doctor did not insist on treating Harish. She asked the family if they wanted to take him to Mangaluru,” said the nursing superintendent.

As BJP workers began gathering at the hospital in the morning, the staff called the police. The hospital said there was no denial of treatment. The official said Harish may have died because of a blood clot or an air embolism, where an air bubble enters the bloodstream and blocks blood flow. “Only an autopsy can confirm the cause,” she said.

District leaders Suresh Kumar Shetty, T P Sunil Kumar, Muralidhara Yadav, Premalatha, Sudhakaran Kamath, Ramesh Bhat, and Sujith Rai joined the demonstration in front of the hospital. After talks, the protesters dispersed, and the police conducted the inquest before sending the body for autopsy.