IIT-Kgp student death: Cough and cold tablet caused choking, says dad

Kharagpur: Chandradeep Pawar, a 19-year-old IIT Kharagpur electrical engineering student, had choked on a normal cough and cold tablet he tried to gulp after dinner in the Nehru Hall mess, where he was a boarder, his father said on Tuesday. The body of the student was brought to the Midnapore Medical College Hospital on Tuesday for an autopsy to determine the cause of death. Pawar died at the BC Roy Technology Hospital late on Monday, His father, Jay Ram Pawar, who flew to Kolkata from Madhya Pradesh and reached the hospital, is a retired railway employee. He has been suffering from cancer himself for the past year. He said his elder son is disabled. Speaking to reporters, Pawar said, "He took a tablet. I spoke to him at around 6 pm and again at 9.15 pm. Everything was fine till then. The medicines were prescribed for a light cough and cold. He had no medical illness otherwise. We received a call at 11 pm, and we also spoke to the doctor over the phone. But it was too late by then." He added, "As of now, I have no complaint against anyone." Chandradeep, his father said, reached the hostel on July 15.IIT Kharagpur also released a medical bulletin detailing the incident. The bulletin read, "Chandradeep Pawar (241E10018) was brought to the Emergency Room, B. C. Roy Technology Hospital at 10.20 pm on July 21 by his roommate and friends, with a history of sudden onset shortness of breath following ingestion of a tablet and collapsed en route to B. C. Roy Technology Hospital." It added, "When he was brought to ER, there was an absence of pulse, BP was not recordable, and periphery was cyanosed. Immediate CPR was started, with other lifesaving drugs." "The doctors went out of their way to revive the student but unfortunately couldn't," said Suman Chakraborty, director of IIT-Kharagpur. The bulletin said, "He was attended to immediately by the on-duty doctor and three senior doctors (who came immediately after receiving the call). He was intubated and an Endotracheal Tube was inserted (by which a piece of the tablet lodged in the bronchus was extruded) but cardiac activity could not be brought back despite our best efforts. Complete CPR protocol was followed but he could not be revived. ECG revealed complete asystole. He was declared dead at 11.05 pm." IIT Kharagpur also said the "demise of Chandradeep Pawar (2nd year UG, EE, Nehru Hall) was due to choking caused by a tablet obstructing the respiratory tract." Police said an unnatural death case has been lodged pending the final autopsy report. Prima facie, police said, there has been no complaint of any foul play.