A patient declared dead by doctors at a state-run hospital in Haridwar and shifted into a mortuary was allegedly alive for the next eight hours, an autopsy conducted on the body the next day has revealed.

The chief medical officer ordered a probe on Friday into the incident after police forwarded a complaint filed by the victim’s kin, reports the Hindustan Times.

The incident took place at BHEL Hospital in Haridwar where an employee of the PSU who had collapsed following chest pain, was rushed to on January 12.

Doctors at the hospital declared Krishan Kumar, 44, dead at 11.30pm. Soon after, the ‘body’ was shifted to the mortuary.

The next day, on January 13, doctors carried out the post-mortem examination at 2pm. As per the report, the death occurred about six hours before the post-mortem examination, putting its time at around 8am — a gap of more than eight hours after Kumar was declared dead.

The victim’s brother, Yogendra Kumar, in a police complaint accused the doctors of negligence leading to Kumar’s death.

In the complaint, he said family members and others present during the opening of the mortuary had found that Kumar’s body was reportedly due to pee. They also noticed vomit fluid near Kumar’s mouth.

Yogendra has demanded immediate arrest of the doctors on charges of murder. He said the doctors killed his brother, first by depriving him medical treatment and then by shifting him to a mortuary where the temperature was near freezing point.

CMO Ashok Gairola ordered a probe after Haridwar’s senior superintendent of police Krishan Kumar VK wrote to him citing details of the post-mortem report. A panel of two senior doctors will verify the postmortem report and submit their findings within a week.

‘It is a serious matter. After the panel submits the report, stern action will be taken against the doctors if they are found guilty of wrongfully declaring the BHEL employee dead,’ said Gairola.

BHEL Hospital medical officer SJ Singh said they have sought explanation from the concerned doctors. He also assured full cooperation to police and the health authorities.

The SSP, meanwhile, said that as per Supreme Court guidelines, doctors can be arrested only after district hospital panel report is submitted.