The Army has ordered a probe after a shocking incident in which rats bit at the feet of a young paralysed Army officer as he lay on his hospital bed at the Army Base Hospital at Delhi Canton-ment, defence sources have confirmed.
The young officer, a lieutenant, was injured in an encounter with heavily-armed militants in Jammu and Kashmir about three weeks ago and was paralysed waist-down. Shaken hospital authorities have now got the wound dressed. “Some skin has been peeled off a toe. The wound has been dressed. Remedial action is being taken,” said a source. More details on the physical condition of the officer after the rodent-bite were not available.
Sources said Chief of Army Staff Gen. Bikram Singh was informed on Sunday about the incident and has taken the matter very seriously. “Stringent action will be taken against persons found guilty of negligence. In the light of this incident, conditions at the hospital will be examined,” sources said. Sources said the officer did not feel the pain as the rats nibbled as he is paralysed. Army authorities, however, are shocked.