TIRUPATI: The nature of injuries sustained by the Red Sanders Anti-smuggling Task Force policemen during the “encounter” in Seshachalam forest on April 7 in which 20 woodcutters died, are understood to be simple and did not warrant the policemen’s admission to the SVR-RUIA government general hospital here.
According to a doctor who was among those who “treated” them, the injuries were too simple and yet they were admitted for 96 hours. “What all we did was to keep them under observation monitoring their health condition which was not critical anyway.
But on the day of encounter half of the outpatient ward of RUIA hospital was filled with “injured” task force and forest security personnel who were involved in combing operation for almost 27 hours before the encounter took place.
According to task force officials, the policemen were admitted to the hospital as they had ostensibly suffered severe injuries in the attack by woodcutters en-masse during the combing operation, which in turn led to the encounter.
What kind of wounds that combing teams suffered so that the treatment had to be carried out for 96 hours? The hospital authorities said, the injured personnel were kept under observation with special doctors monitoring their health condition round the clock. But, sources reveal that as the nature of injuries is ‘simple’ patient-care given to them was not at all warranted.
The nature of injuries pertaining to the medico-legal cases are of two types -- simple and grievous. “A patient will be attended by the doctor or surgeon based on the nature of wounds. The injuries to security personnel do not come under the category of ‘grievous’ wounds, to consider them as serious or very serious. We did not even find any severe cuts or slit marks by weapons like sickles or axe,” a source said.
Among the total 11 injured personnel, the doctors found four of them with lacerated wounds mainly on elbows, shoulders and limbs, and partly on head. The remaining patients suffered cervical injuries and hairline fractures in joint areas. During the admission of patients, most of them were under dehydration and exhausted condition. “The patients had said that they were starving for more than 27 hours in the forest for which primary attention was given for rehydration,” a doctor said on condition of anonymity. The treatment given for 96 hours comprises only immobilization, medication with some antibiotics and conservative management methods to treat fractures.
The cuts were seen on one or two patients on the limbs and above wrist and they were sutured. The patient with cervical wound on the neck was immobilized and non-surgical treatment like physiotherapy and medication was given. On the first day, the treatment was given in the out-patient ward and later they were shifted to male surgical ward and from there to A-class ward.
The tablets prescribed for the combing teams were only antibiotics and the time limit of medication was mentioned as only for five days. The antibiotics given -- Meropenem, Amoxicilin, Clavulinic acid and Metrogel -- deal with injuries that occurred with mud and dust or bacteria. “The medicines issued to the patients are prescribed only for five days. The injuries are simple -- the reason for which they were discharged within four days of treatment,” the sources confirmed.
A few sources also said if the injuries were so severe the patients would have visited the hospital again. But till now no officer from the combing teams reported about their health condition to hospital authorities.