16 July,2014 03:49 AM IST | | Salil Urunkar
Two of the victims were shocked when they had to wait for several days before doctors finally operated upon them to remove metal splinters stuck inside their bodies
Manisha
While police received heavy criticism for the lax security at the Faraskhana-Vishrambaug police station compound where the July 10 low-intensity blast occurred, the victims recounted their post-explosion experience, shedding further unflattering light on the police and doctors.
Manisha was taken to a private hospital on Tuesday, as she and her husband were not sure they would receive adequate care at government hospitals
Manisha Jadhav, who was the second victim to undergo surgery, was operated on five days after receiving "minor" injuries.
A splinter of ball bearing was removed from her leg, but only after she complained about the pain. Jadhav is the owner of Shree Swami Samarth Snacks Center, which is located adjacent to the Faraskhana police station parking lot. She was sitting in her outlet when the blasts occurred.
The metallic splinter that was recovered from blast victim's leg yesterday. Pics/Mohan Patil
Jaswant Mataprasad Singh (23), a worker at the same joint, underwent an operation on Sunday, three days after
the incident. It was only after he complained of severe headache that doctors at a private hospital removed a metallic object from his head.
Jadhav was admitted to Dhanvantari Hospital in Rasta Peth on Tuesday, where she underwent surgery. Datta Jadhav, her husband, said, "She (Manisha) was complaining about pain since the explosion took place. The horrific experience we had seen on Sunday at Sassoon Hospital, when Jaswant Singh was taken for a CT scan, had raised many doubts in our mind about the quality of treatment the doctors from government hospitals would give to Manisha."
"The CT scan machine there is non-functional. The police also did not take this issue seriously. If they had, we could have gotten immediate medical attention and relief," he added. ATS officials have seized the metallic objects recovered from the bodies of Jadhav and Singh. The two injured persons and the recovered splinters could form crucial evidence for the case trial.
What is shocking is that the victims were only given adequate medical treatment several days after the incident, and only after they complained of severe pain. The officials in-charge of the investigation are not even aware of whether a proper preliminary medical check-up was conducted. Neither do they know who is responsible for this task.
An officer from the Pune unit of the state Anti-Terrorism Squad said, "As is the usual practice, every person injured in a bomb blast should undergo a thorough body scan, so that medical complications can be avoided. We are not aware about whether this procedure was followed in the Faraskhana blast case, as several teams of local police also have been formed and they are assigned individual duties."
