Bilaspur (Chhattisgarh): After a gap of seven years, Chhattisgarh Police arrested the four doctors, accused of culpable homicide and concealment of evidence in the Goldy Chhabra death case of 2016. The four have been accused of negligence during treatment.
The doctors have been identified as Devendra Singh, Rajeev Lochan, Manoj Rai and Sunil Kedia. However, they were granted bail on personal bonds.
Chhabra, then aged 29, was a hotelier who resided in Adarsh Colony, Dayalband. He was admitted to a private hospital after complaints of stomach ache. He died on December 26, 2016, due to sulfur poisoning after which his family accused doctors of the private hospital of negligence in treatment.
In their defence, the doctors declared that Chhabra died of poisoning. However, there was no trace of poison in Chhabra's body after the post-mortem was conducted at Chhattisgarh Institute of Medical Sciences (CIMS) in Bilaspur.
The family members requested the Bilaspur Inspector General, Superintendent of Police and other senior police officials to investigate the matter. However, when no action was taken by the police, Goldy's father Paramjit Singh Chhabra filed a petition in the High Court to discern the exact cause of his son's death.
On September 27, 2023, the Chhattisgarh government's medical legal specialists and consultants submitted papers to the Directorate of Forensic Science highlighting incompetence on the part of medical staff and hospital administration in the case. The post-mortem, medical board, and specialised reports' examinations led to the conclusion that Goldy's death was caused by carelessness during treatment.
A case under sections 304A (causing death by negligence), 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence), and 34 (When a criminal act is done by several persons in furtherance of the common intention of all) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) was registered at the Sarkanda Police Station.
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