In December last year, the state health department had tasked VB’s Bathinda range unit to investigate possibilities of a nexus of the sacked hospital staff and others behind the repeated cases of wrong blood transfusion at the government-run blood bank at Bhai Shaheed Bhai Mani Civil Hospital
The step was taken after five persons, including four thalassaemia patients aged between 7 and 13, being treated at the district hospital were found HIV positive after blood transfusion.
The role of at least six staffers then posted at the blood bank came under the scanner in the serious breach of strict guidelines of blood transfusion. However, VB has not questioned any of the key suspects to date.
As the Bathinda district police are conducting a regular criminal investigation in which the main accused, Baldev Singh Romana, a medical laboratory technician was already arrested, the VB was asked to probe patterns where several were infused infected blood at the same place.