'Stamp paper scam' hit by HIV virus

[Guest guest]

Dear forum members,

Ref: the following news related to 'Telgi being injected with HIV virus'

Not withstanding merits or otherwise of the accused, from HIV/AIDS

control programme point of view this is a matter of great importance.

This needs as wide a debate as feasible and also as early as

possible. Issues are complicated and could be viewed from

victimisation of accused angle and also that of administration

(police). Can administration resort to such things, if true? Crux is

how to prove or disprove? Does it mean all need to be tested at the

time imprisonment (by accused to prove or by police to disprove)?

After all how reliable would be such testing considering window

period, reliability, etc.? What happens to human rights issue? One

day we need to certainly address this !!!

C. Nagendra. E-mail: nagendraiyer@...

________________

Stamp paper scam hit by HIV virus

TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2003 12:52:30 AM ]

BANGALORE : Fake stamp paper kingpin Abdul Karim Telgi's counsel M.T.

Nanaiah has charged the police team probing the case with injecting

the HIV virus into his client. The police have denied it outright,

and said Telgi contracted the AIDS virus much before.

" Telgi had tested HIV-positive much before his arrest in November

2001 and allegations made by Telgi's counsel Nanaiah that his client

has been injected with the virus after his arrest, are false,'' R.

Srikumar, ADGP and Stampit chief in Karnataka, told The Times of

India.

" We have evidence to this effect and we will prove it in a court of

law at an appropriate time. Let Nanaiah sue us. We will face him in

court,'' Srikumar maintained.

Justifying his statement, he said: " Some time ago, a few newspapers

had carried reports that Telgi is an AIDS patient and had contracted

the virus before his arrest.''

Earlier in the day, Nanaiah had claimed before reporters that he was

in possession of a medical certificate issued by doctors of the

National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS),

Bangalore , that Telgi had tested HIV-positive. Medical tests

conducted when Telgi was taken into custody had not indicated that he

was HIV-positive, he said.

Nanaiah said he had on Wednesday served a notice to the Parappana

Agrahara Central jail authorities, seeking copies of the medical

certificate, to sue Stampit.

Nanaiah said the jail authorities referred Telgi, a chronic diabetic

and cardiac patient, to NIMHANS to undergo various tests on November

6. The doctors submitted a report on November 9, which noted he had

tested positive for HIV.

The NIMHANS doctors also recommended that Telgi undergo further

treatment, but the jail authorities neglected this, Nanaiah charged.

Not only did they keep the medical report under wraps but did not

provide necessary treatment to Telgi, he said.

They had also ignored a recommendation by doctors to bring Telgi in

for further tests on November 12, he alleged. Nanaiah claimed that

Telgi, who has been in judicial custody since November 2001, was in

police custody for 10 days a few months ago. " Then, doctors from a

government hospital were administering insulin and other injections

to my client. There is a possibility that the virus was injected to

eliminate him,'' Nanaiah said.

On November 11, he had filed an application before the high court

that there was a conspiracy by the police to eliminate Telgi, and his

suspicions have come true.

Meanwhile, Jayaramaiah, DIG (Prisons), Karnataka, refused comments on

the issue.

Police officers handling the case alleged that Telgi is a womaniser

and had moved in the company of several women before his

arrest. " Telgi's personal doctor in Mumbai is aware that Telgi has

contracted the HIV virus in 2000. His lawyer is making empty noises

to ensure that his client is out of jail and kept in the comforts of

a hospital, where the threat to his life is higher compared to

prison. In prison, he is treated as a high-risk prisoner and kept in

an isolated cell.''

[Guest guest]

Dear FORUM,

It is interesting to understand the linkage between HIV and Fake Stamp Seller's

attitude to utilize the clnical pecuiliarities of HIV like incubation period,

window period, sensitivity & specificity of a test used and ethical priciples

also.

Here is the key message for public health professionals where laws, ethics,

human rights, medicine work together to establish justice. Who is to be blamed?

Who is true?

" Dr Arup "

E-mail:<arup_dr@...>