HYDERABAD: Relatives of an accident victim, who scurried around various blood banks in Hyderabad were in for a rude shock when they got to know that the blood they brought from a private blood bank was diluted with saline.
The incident came to light after Rachakonda Special Operations Team (SOT) busted a racket after raiding Venus Blood Bank here following a complaint lodged by the relatives of the accident victim. The samples of the blood would be sent to Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) for analysis, police said.
According to police, one Narasimha Reddy met with an accident three days ago and was admitted to a private hospital in Byramulguda. The doctors suggested that the patient needs blood and asked his family to procure blood. Narasimha Reddy’s relatives after visiting nearby blood banks, were suggested to go to Venus Hospital Blood Bank .
‘‘They purchased two units of blood for`3,000 a unit from Venus Blood Bank. When doctors checked the blood before transfusion, they found it was mixed with normal saline,” Rachakonda police said.
Shocked over this, the family approached the police and lodged a complaint. The SOT police seized five packets of white blood cells, seven bottles of saline, records and registers.
Detective inspector Pravinder Rao said they apprehended three persons of the blood bank namely Chakravarthi, Sravan and one more person.
Cases were registered under IPC Section 420 (Cheating), 308 (Attempt to commit culpable homicide), 269 ( Negligent act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life) against them and investigation is underway. Drug Inspectors from Telangana Drug Control Association (DCA) are also investigating the case.
Blood banks are supposed to be regulated by DCA officials. Officials in the health department questioned if regular checks are being taken up at the blood banks because this is the second such case reported in the city.
Last May, a similar case was reported at Government Maternity Hospital, Sultan Bazaar. A lab technician was involved in splitting one unit (350 ml) of blood into two packets and filling the remaining part with saline.