Class 10 student dies after getting ‘treated’ by a fake doctor

Tragedy struck in West Bengal’s Birbhum on Thursday when A 16-year-old boy died in a critical care ambulance after getting treated by an air-condition mechanic who impersonated as a doctor. The boy who was appearing for class 10 exams had complained of high fever and chest pain following which he was taken to a Kolkata hospital from a nursing home when the incident happened.

Police officials have said that they have arrested the fake doctor named Sheikh Sarfarajuddin and the ambulance driver, Tara Babu Sha. The deceased student has been identified as Arijit Das. As per his family, Arijit was suffering from fever for some time and even wrote 3 exams despite the fever. However, his conditions worsened as he complained of severe back pain thereby forcing his father to take him to a nearby hospital. Later the family decide to take the boy to Rabindranath Tagore International Institute for Cardiac Sciences (RTIICS) as there was no improvement in his condition. This was when the family requested a critical-care ambulance and a doctor to accompany the patient during the journey to Kolkata.

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On reaching RTIICS, the family was shocked to hear from the doctors that the boy has been brought dead. Meanwhile, Sarfarajuddin tried to escape but was caught by one of the relatives of the boy. After questioning, he admitted that he was an ac technician who sometimes used to help doctors fit oxygen cylinders for the patients at the nursing home. Arjit’s uncle said, “My nephew’s condition was not that critical before we left for Kolkata. In fact, Arijit was looking forward to writing his history examination on Friday. I am sure he would not have died in the ambulance that is supposed to have all life support systems had he been accompanied by a real doctor.”

An FIR has been filed against the mechanic and the ambulance driver. District health officials have informed that they will conduct an investigation against the nursing home as well.