Indore (Madhya Pradesh): Pankaj Jain, 50, brother of Kota BJP district president Rakesh Jain, died during treatment at MY Hospital after being injured in a road accident in the Kshipra area.
Jain had been reported missing since May 25 after leaving his nephew’s home in Indore. His body was later cremated as unidentified, triggering allegations of negligence against both the police and hospital authorities.
Jain, a resident of Kota, had come to stay with his nephew Parag Sethiya, a medical store owner in the Gumasta Nagar area. On May 25, Jain left the house and failed to return.
When Sethiya tried to contact him, he found Jain’s phone service suspended. After recharging the phone, Sethiya received a call from a truck driver who had found the handset in the Kshipra area and was en route to Ahmedabad.
Unable to trace his uncle, Sethiya filed a missing person’s complaint at Dwarkapuri police station. His search led him to MY Hospital, where he discovered that an unidentified accident victim had been cremated with the help of a social organisation. The family later identified the deceased through a video shown by Kshipra police.
The family has alleged serious lapses. They claim that Pankaj Jain was first taken to a private hospital and later to MY Hospital, where he had reportedly disclosed his name and address. Despite this, he was kept as an unidentified patient for three days, and was cremated posthumously without informing the family. They also accused police personnel at the MY Hospital post of not handling the case with due seriousness.
In response, Kshipra police station in-charge Girijashankar Mahobiya told Free Press that officers had acted swiftly. “The injured man was taken to a private hospital, and a video was recorded as we checked his wallet for identity. He was not in a condition to speak, so we rushed him to MY Hospital for further treatment,” he said.
The incident has sparked concern over communication gaps between hospitals and law enforcement in handling unidentified or critical accident victims.
