Acid attack on paediatrician; cops launch manhunt

Visakhapatnam: Unknown assailants attacked a paediatrician with acid while he was going home from Seven Hills Hospital here on Tuesday evening. He was admitted in the intensive care unit of the same hospital.

Highlights:

• Balaji Bhushan Patnaik admitted to ICU of a private hospital
• Police launch manhunt to nab the attackers

According to his elder brother Mihir Patnaik, who flew in from Mumbai on Wednesday evening after hearing the news, paediatrician Balaji Bhushan Patnaik was driving home in his personal car when two persons, who covered their faces with handkerchiefs knocked his car and slowed down.

“Later both came to his door and knocked the window pane. When my brother slid the wind glass, one of them threw acid on his face and sped away from the spot,’’ Mihir said.

He later raised an alarm and local people rushed him to L V Prasad Eye Hospital and later brought him to the intensive care unit of the Seven Hills Hospital, Mihir said. Asked whether he had enemies who could have carried out the attack, Mihir said his brother was soft spoken and never had any enemies.

“He is presently doing well but cannot say to what extent his eyes are damaged,’’ said a source from the hospital. Meanwhile, the police launched a manhunt to nab the attackers. Deputy Commissioner of Police K Fakirappa said they would know more about the case after Dr Patnaik becomes normal.

“I had spoken to him in the morning but he did not reveal anything. Even his wife and father-in-law are clueless,’’ the DCP said.He also said special teams have been formed and senior officials are going through footage of nearby CCTV cameras to get a lead.

Another official said teams would visit his native place Chatrapur in south Odisha to find out whether he had any row with people. This is the first acid attack on a man in the city.