When the treating doctor refused, Salem decided to go back to Taloja jail in Navi Mumbai where he fell sick rather than remain in the care of JJ Hospital, the report said.
Lodged in the high- security cell of Taloja Jail for over two years, Salem was brought to JJ Hospital for tests after he complained of fever and shivering.
His case has now raised serious concerns about the hygiene and condition of jails in Mumbai and rest of Maharashtra.
According to JJ Hospital sources, Salem was brought to the emergency ward of the hospital amid tight security last morning. He complained of running a temperature — 99 to 100 degrees C — and even said he had been shivering since the previous day. And he informed the treating doctors that he had already taken a paracetamol tablet before coming to the hospital.
Salem was then referred to doctors from the medicine department, who examined him and advised a blood test.
A few hours later, the test report confirmed that Abu Salem had P. vivax malaria. He was advised by the treating doctor to get himself admitted to the prison ward.
Interestingly, even his lawyer and acquaintances were spotted with Salem in the hospital along with the police escort when the news was broken to him about his having tested positive for malaria.
Salem then tried to pull strings within the hospital to ensure that instead of the prison ward he was put up in some other ward.
But the treating doctor did not budge from his stand of following procedure and Salem's request could not be met.
Before making his decision to disallow Salem's demand, the doctor had even approached for guidance from a few of his colleagues, who advised him against acting on mere oral instructions from any senior doctors of the hospital in such a sensitive case.
The hospital has already witnessed a case of a convict escaping from its premises this year.
In the second week of February, prisoner Altaf Ahmed Shaikh ( 27) had run away after breaking the window of the first- floor side room next to the Medical Intensive Care Unit .
Altaf Ahmed Shaikh had been brought to JJ Hospital for treatment from the Kolhapur prison where he had been lodged.
JJ Hospital dean Dr T P Lahane said: “ Since his (Abu Salem's) report was positive vivax malaria, we advised him to get admitted in the prison ward, but he refused.
"Salem gave us in writing that he did not want to get admitted there and insisted on a separate room, which was refused. He preferred going back to the prison where he was lodged,” Lahane said.
“ Even the escorting police and the doctor who examined him have acknowledged and signed the papers.” Lahane said. In the given condition, it would have been better if he had stayed in the hospital, the dean added.
Close monitoring of health is usually advisable in case of vivax malaria testing positive and it is always in the interest of the patient to get admitted,” he said. “ Salem was given antimalarial tablets before he left the hospital.”
A senior jail official, who did not wish to be named, said that rampant construction activity in and around Taloja and Khargar had been behind cases of malaria becoming common.
The official said that though the local CIDCO staff does conduct fumigation and fogging inside the prison, the effect of the insecticides sprayed is for a limited period.
Taloja Jail Superintendent Ramesh Kamble tried to play down the mosquito issue, saying they did take appropriate measures to keep mosquitoes at bay.
On Salem, he said: “ On the advise of the jail doctor, Abu Salem was taken to JJ Hospital.
A police escort of the Navi Mumbai police was deployed to be with Salem. He left around 10.30 am and returned late in the evening. The jail doctor will examine the JJ Hospital papers and accordingly we will decide on the further course of action.
If he has tested positive for malaria, then we will inform CIDCO and accordingly get the fumigation done for the entire prison. We take the utmost care of our prisoners. However, we do not have a single case of malaria patient in our prison hospital.”
Taloja Jail currently has around 1,100 undertrials inmates. Of these, 30 are lodged in the high- security barrack, besides Salem.
