Kolkata, Dec 8 (IANS): State-run SSKM Medical College & Hospital in south Kolkata is in the midst of yet another controversy after allotting a bed reserved for children to Sujay Krishna Bhadra in the ICU of the cardiology department.

Hospital insiders said that Bhadra, a prime accused in the multi-crore cash-for-school job case in West Bengal, has been allotted bed number 18 in the ICU of the cardiology department, which along with bed number 19 and 20 are reserved for children.

Since the beds for adults in the same ICU are already occupied, the hospital authorities had no other option but to allot the bed reserved for children to Bhadra, sources said.

This is the second controversy that the iconic state-run hospital has run into in a single day.

On Friday morning, when the Enforcement Directorate (ED) sleuths went to the hospital to shift Bhadra to the Centre-run ESI Hospital at Joka for a medical examination required for his voice sample test, the SSKM authorities informed them that Bhadra had been shifted to the ICU at night after he complained of chest pain.

The development has proved to be a major hurdle in the completion of the voice sampling test which is imperative for the ED sleuths to finish at the earliest considering the recent order from a Division Bench of the Calcutta High Court to complete the probe by December 31.

Meanwhile, the decision of the SSKM authorities to allot a bed reserved for children to Bhadra has created ripples in the medical fraternity.

According to the General Secretary of the Association of Health Service Doctors, Dr Manas Gumta, it is most unfortunate and a matter of shame that a bed reserved for children had to be allotted to Bhadra, especially when reports of child and neonatal deaths in different pockets of the state are quite common.