Jamshedpur: FIR Lodged Against Blood Bank Technician for HIV Blood Transfusion to Thalassaemia Children

Jamshedpur: The West Singhbhum police on Friday lodged a named FIR against the blood bank technician in the case of alleged transfusion of HIV blood to five thalassaemia-infected children at the Chaibasa sadar hospital, acting on the complaint of the families of the five victims.The officer in-charge of the Sadar police station, Tarun Kumar, said, “The complainants alleged that HIV blood was transfused to their thalassaemia-sick wards at the Chaibasa sadar hospital in West Singhbhum due to the gross negligence of the blood bank technician, Manoj Kumar.”“Only the technician was named as the accused in the complaint. No charges have been levelled against any official of the lab or the hospital,” he added“A mother of one of the victims lodged the complaint, while the remaining four victims’ kin are witnesses in the case.

Statements of the complainant and the witnesses were recorded. A formal investigation would be done,” the OC added.The Jharkhand high court had last Wednesday directed the officer in-charge of the Sadar police station to register an FIR in the case while hearing the writ petition seeking registration of the FIR over the alleged transfusion of the contaminated blood. The court of Justice Gautam Kumar Chaudhary directed the OC to register the FIR and take necessary action against those found guilty.

In October 2025, it was discovered that five children suffering from thalassaemia were given contaminated blood at the Sadar Hospital. The state govt had suspended the then West Singhbhum district civil surgeon and the then in-charge of the Chaibasa sadar hospital, Dr Sushanto Majhee, and removed laboratory technician Manoj Kumar from the job.Earlier, a division bench of the court had pulled up the state for not following the standard operating procedure for blood transfusion, allegedly leading to HIV infection in five thalassemia patients, who had come to the sadar hospital.