Kolkata: Imprisoned former transport minister Madan Mitra was shifted to the SSKM hospital on Tuesday after complaining of cardiac distress.
With a shooting pulse rate, the jail doctors refused to risk a further stay at the prison hospital and recommended his transfer. He was admitted in SSKM's cardiology department at 7pm. Mitra will undergo ECG and cardiograph.
Hours before Kamarhati went to polls on Sunday, Mitra had come up with similar complaints. A four-member SSKM team were sent to the prison for a check-up. The doctors then felt there was no reason why he couldn't be treated at the prison hospital. This, together with choppy political claims (BJP had threatened to move EC against him), kept him confined in prison on the D-day.
Though prison authorities claimed it lacks the diagnostic tool kits necessary for advanced cardio-respiratory examinations, sources said it is equipped with an ECG and cardiograph.
Mitra's prolonged hospital stays after his December 2014 arrest has had its legal fallouts. CBI had accused the prison authorities of using the hospital pretext to stall their moves to question Mitra. This had even prompted the CBI-designated court to summon the Alipore prison superintendent to seek a report on his hospital stays. The CBI had also furthered this argument to lend weight to their "influential" debate. Perhaps this is why Mitra chose to avoid the Woodburn Ward and settle for the AC cabin.