In a troubling incident from Odisha, police exhumed the body of a 44-year-old man who died following a road accident in Kalahandi district, amid allegations of organ theft.
The police acted after the deceased’s family raised concerns about suspicious surgery marks on his abdomen, suggesting possible organ removal.
The deceased, Babula Digal, a businessman, had suffered head injuries in a road accident on October 13 while riding a motorcycle with his family.
He was struck by a mini-truck and admitted to a private hospital in Cuttack, where he succumbed to his injuries on October 16.
His body was handed over to his family without a post-mortem.
The alarm was raised when Digal’s son noticed unexplained surgical marks on his father’s abdomen and lodged a complaint, claiming, “We suspected that the hospital authorities might have removed some of my father's organs.”
Police investigations were launched immediately, and Digal’s body, buried in a graveyard at Tikarabaju under Baliguda Police Station limits in Kandhamal district, was exhumed for a post-mortem examination at a sub-divisional hospital.
Inspector-in-charge of Baliguda Police Station, Sushant Sahu, confirmed the body was exhumed and stated, “We are investigating the allegations of organ theft. All details will be clear after we receive the post-mortem report.”
The Bhubaneswar-Cuttack Commissionerate Police also launched a parallel investigation into the private hospital’s role in the matter.
Hospital authorities have denied any wrongdoing, explaining that the surgical marks resulted from a decompressive craniectomy, a neurosurgical procedure, performed on Digal to relieve pressure on his brain following his head injury.
Hospital manager Susanta Behera said, “Our doctors had informed the family about the patient’s condition during treatment.”
Odisha Health Minister Mukesh Mahaling has ordered a departmental inquiry into the incident, stating, “Strong action will be taken if anyone is found guilty.”
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