DEOGARH: A 21-year-old youth who fell ill after the physical fitness test for recruitment of home guards at the Reserve Police ground here, died during treatment in the district headquarters hospital (DHH) on Thursday morning.
The deceased was identified as Saheb Dehuri of Budido village within Reamal police limits. On Wednesday evening, Saheb suddenly developed health issues after successfully clearing the running test. He was rushed to the DHH in an ambulance. However, he succumbed the next morning.
Following the youth’s death, tension flared up on the DHH premises after Saheb’s family members and locals alleged that he did not receive proper medical care. Locals demanded a thorough probe into the lapses, if any, during treatment of the youth.
Saheb’s father Pradeep Dehuri said the running test was conducted at 3:30 pm when the heat was at peak. Saheb was exhausted after running due to which fell ill. “I was attending to him in the hospital when he was being administered saline. As the hospital staff were not responding on time, I was sitting beside him the entire night. After 3:30 am, my son said he wanted to sleep for some time and died all of a sudden,” he claimed.
Terming the death as unfortunate, Deogarh SP Anil Kumar Mishra said the aspirant had qualified the running round and his long jump test was scheduled for the next day. But he started feeling uneasy after the running test and his family members were informed.
He further said the youth was taken to the DHH immediately. His condition was stable until Wednesday night and he was also ready to appear directly for the long jump test after discharge. But the hospital authorities informed about his death at around 5 am on Thursday. Police have registered a case and launched an investigation into his death.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi took to social media platform X to express grief over Saheb’s death. He also announced a compensation of Rs 4 lakh from the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund for the next of kin of the deceased.