MUMBAI, MARCH 31: The Maharashtra Government on Friday assured the Legislative Assembly that a CID inquiry would be initiated into the suspicious death of a student Ashwini Kumar at the Sevagram Medical College Hospital in Wardha on January 6. Replying to a starred question of Anil Gote and others, Minister for Public Health Digvijay Khanvilkar said that the student had met with an accident and fractured his limbs, but later at the hospital, he developed respiratory problems and died of double pneumonia. He further said that no post-mortem was conducted as the deceased's father gave a written request against performing a post-mortem. Opposition members Dr Daulatrao Aher, Arun Adsud, Madhu Chavan amd Sabir Shaikh, however, refused to believe the Minister's reply and alleged that the Government was trying to cover up the case to protect the concerned doctors. Dr Aher pointed out that as a rule post-mortem was always done and that the student, who had sustained fractures, could not have died of pneumonia. The Minister replied that according to the doctors, the student was a victim of microfat embolism, which led to microfat from the bone marrow blocking the arteries. However, Dr Aher contested the reply, pointing out that when no post-mortem was conducted, how could the minister derive the conclusion. He alleged that the letter of the student's father had been obtained under duress and that a CID probe was necessary.
