Pune/Mumbai: The Maharashtra police on Monday launched a manhunt for a teenaged student who ran away from a hospital in Satara district where he was being treated as a suspected swine flu patient, an official said.
The student, who has been identified as Hissan Sunhere, had gone to the hill station of Panchgani last week for admission to the New Era High School, a residential public school.
"After he developed swine flu like symptoms, he was taken to the Satara district hospital and his blood samples were taken. As per the usual procedure, he was advised to get himself admitted to the hospital and undergo treatment until his reports came," Satara District Collector Vikas Deshmukh told IANS.
He left the facility under pretext of going to the loo and fled from the hospital. The hospital authorities have lodged a police complaint.
The situation became alarming when his test reports received in the evening showed him as a positive case. Immediately, police were alerted to take steps and trace the whereabouts of the missing student.
"The police have sent a team to Mumbai - where the patient is suspected to be hiding - to catch him and get him admitted to a medical facility before he can cause further problems," a concerned Deshmukh said.
Panchgani is the worst affected with students getting affected in some of the top residential schools there.
Deshmukh said six more people tested positive Monday, of whom five have been admitted to a hospital, taking the total number of victims in the district to 31 and the state's total to 333.
Six more test reports of suspected victims are awaited, he said.
In view of the increasing number of swine flu patients, all the 50-odd residential and day schools in the hill station have been ordered shut till next Monday, he said.
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