Salahuddin to be treated for kidney stones

BNP leader Salahuddin Ahmed was shifted to a specialised hospital from Shillong Civil Hospital (SCH) yesterday for improved treatment as per advice of physicians.

Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health and Medical Sciences is specialised in high-end diagnostics and medicare in interventional cardiology, open heart surgery, neurology and in some other medical conditions, according to the website of the hospital.

A medical board of the SCH in the Indian state of Meghalaya in a report said Salahuddin has been suffering from heart and kidney diseases. Besides, the patient had developed fresh urological symptoms and needed better treatment.

The report was submitted to Meghalaya police on Tuesday.

Dr GK Goswami, who attended Salahuddin at the SCH, told reporters that the patient developed kidney stones and he needed to undergo more medical examinations which were not available at the hospital.

Salahuddin expressed his gratitude to the Indian government for arranging better treatment for him, Subrata Acharya, India bureau chief of private TV station Somoy TV, told The Daily Star.

“I'm very sick. I urge my countrymen to pray to Allah for my early recovery. I thank the Indian government and the hospital authorities for providing me with better treatment,” the 54-year-old joint secretary general of the BNP told newsmen on his way to the specialised hospital in Shillong.

The former state minister was sitting on a wheel chair. Some reporters managed to talk to him before he was loaded into an SUV under police escort.

He had been receiving treatment at the SCH under police custody since May 11. Yesterday was only the second time newsmen could talk to Salahuddin since he had gone missing on March 10.

Identifying themselves as detectives, a group of men picked up Salahuddin at a residence in the capital's Uttara on that day, his family had alleged.

Meanwhile, Salahuddin's wife Hasina Ahmed met him at the SCH for the third straight day yesterday.

Talking to reporters at the hospital, she said they were putting more priority on Salahuddin's treatment rather than fighting the legal battle to bring him back home. She reiterated her wish to take her husband to Singapore for better treatment.

Hasina yesterday met advocate SP Mahanta of Meghalaya High Court. They discussed taking Salahuddin to Singapore and defend him in the case filed for trespassing into India.

Police arrested the BNP leader on May 11 when he was “roaming” in Golf Link area of Shillong. He was sued under the foreigners act for not carrying valid travel documents.

POLICE LETTER TO HOSPITAL

In a rare move, the office of the superintendent of police in Meghalaya on Tuesday afternoon sent a letter to the SCH asking the hospital authority why it didn't inform police on Salahuddin's health on a regular basis, said hospital sources.

The law enforcers also wanted to know why the hospital authority was making delay in discharging the arrested BNP leader from the hospital.