Health and family welfare minister Samanta Lal Sen on Monday said that former Jahangirnagar University economics professor Anu Muhammad, now under treatment after a train accident severing his toes, requires ‘combined operations’.
The noted economist and prolific writer was admitted to Dahaka Medical College Hospital immediately after the accident in the city and was shifted to the Sheikh Hasina National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery on Monday afternoon for better treatment at the health minister’s advice to the DMCH director.
‘I have seen photos from doctors. We have decided to conduct a combined surgery which he needs now. The combined surgery will include orthopaedic surgery and plastic surgery. It is the best in our institute. We will do it soon. I told Dhaka Medical College Hospital director to shift him here,’ he said at a press briefing at the institute.
The minister said that prime minister Sheikh Hasina phoned him and asked him to ensure ‘highest possible treatment’ for Anu Muhammad.
‘I informed the prime minister that we will form a medical board and do whatever needed to bring him back to his work,’ he added.
Anu Muhammad was admitted to Dhaka Medical College Hospital after his toes were severed in a train accident at the Khilgaon level crossing in the capital on Sunday morning.
The incident occurred at about 11:00am when he slipped and fell under the wheels while attempting to disembark from the train with the train beginning to move.
An author, editor and activist, professor Anu Muhammad, who is also a former member secretary of the National Committee to Protect Oil, Gas, Mineral Resources, Power, and Ports, was promptly rescued and rushed to the emergency department of Dhaka Medical College Hospital.
An outspoken political analyst, Anu Muhammad has been leading various movements on national issues.
Anu Muhammad underwent a surgery at DMCH on Sunday evening.
After conducting the surgery, professor Bidhan Sarker, head of the Burn and Plastic Surgery Department at DMCH, said that all five toes of his left foot and one of his right foot were affected in the accident.
He also said that the severed toes of his left foot could not be recovered.
Anu Muhammad was returning to Dhaka on the Ekota Express train from Phulbaria in Dinajpur on Sunday morning.
One of his associates, Mahatab Uddin Ahmed, was accompanying the economist on his way to Dhaka from Dinajpur.
