Mumbai: Chhagan Bhujbal returns to jail, says no to treatment at JJ Hospital

Chhagan Bhujbal

Chhagan Bhujbal, the former deputy chief minister of Maharashtra, will be back in Arthur Road jail today. He was at the Bombay Hospital for more than a month, but is going back to jail as he doesn't want angiography done at JJ Hospital.

According to a report in Mumbai Mirror, Bhujbal, who was arrested for his role in the multi-crore money laundering case, checked into the Bombay Hospital on November 2 for some tests. The report added that senior cardiologist Dr BK Goyal asked him to undergo angiography after detecting a minor heart ailment. However, allegations of him using the illness as an excuse to stay out of jail soon stared doing the rounds. Eventually, he was back in JJ Hospital on December 7.

Also Read: Mumbai: Chhagan Bhujbal shifted to JJ hospital

TP Lahane, the JJ Hospital dean, confirmed to Mumbai Mirror that Bhujbal had refused angiography at the hospital. "We cannot force anybody. We have informed the Arthur Road jail authorities that Bhujbal has refused to undergo angiography. The court will also be informed. He was admitted specifically to undergo angiography on the basis of medical reports, and he doesn't need hospitalisation for any other purpose," he said. When Mirror probed him for the reasons behind Bhujbal's refusal, Rahane said, "Only he knows."

Meanwhile, Arthur Road jail officials also told Mumbai Mirror that Bhujbal will be back in his cell today. "In such circumstances where inmates sent to hospital refuse treatment, the only option is to bring them back to jail," a senior jail official told the paper.

The report added that Bhujbal was arrested in March, but after a month in jail, he was sent to St George Hospital to treat a toothache. He, however, was admitted for other ailments too. Bhujbal was admitted to JJ Hospital in September for dengue, and then to Bombay Hospital in November, the report concluded.