Punjab eye camp tragedy: Mathura NGO office-bearers missing

Mathura, Dec 8: The office-bearers of a Mathura-based NGO which recently organised an eye-camp in Punjab where some patients later complained of losing eyesight, were found missing and untraceable when a Punjab Police team looked for them on Sunday.

The police were looking for the NGO's director and other office bearers -- president, vice-president, chairperson, secretary, treasurer, and others.

Punjab Police officer Ajaypal Singh said they were looking for Hemvir, the director of SKM Sewa Sansthan, the NGO in Amar Colony here which organised the eye camp in a Punjab village where the surgeries were botched.

The Mathura police provided the backup and "we are now looking for the accused at various places", he added.

On Sunday, Punjab Police sub-inspector Sukhvinder Singh with seven policemen went to the NGO's registered office in Amar Colony but found it locked. The director with his family members had left. A few other places were searched too, but in vain, the sub-inspector said.

The NGO organised the eye camp for cataract operations in Ghuman village of Gurdaspur district in Punjab, where 29 of the total 49 people operated upon later complained of losing sight.

A government official claimed that half a dozen had lost their sight. A case was later registered against the NGO.

The eye camp's organiser was arrested for not taking permission for the camp, and the doctor who performed the surgeries was also been taken into custody.

IANS