Swine flu patient goes missing from home in Jamshedpur

A Boston-returned student Gopal Kumar Tiwari, who had tested positive for swine flu and was staying at his home in Jamshedpur, has mysteriously gone missing. The authorities had advised to admit him in an isolation ward.

Airports and railway stations have been alerted after 21-year-old Tiwari went missing from his residence at Kodma-Sonari Link Road area on Wednesday night, West Singhbhum Deputy Commissioner Ravindra Agarwal said.

Gopal, staying with her doctor mother Pushpa Tiwari, had left home saying he would return soon. But he did not. Agarwal said that police had procured Gopal's passport registration number from his family.

A written undertaking was taken from Tiwari's mother that she would keep Tiwari in isolation in the house and would not allow him to move out, he said.

District civil surgeon Dr Deepali Dey said they wanted to keep Gopal at an isolation ward in the Tata Main Hospital after he tested positive for H1NI virus on Wednesday.

However, he was allowed to remain in isolation at his home following a directive from Delhi last evening.

Dr Swaran Singh, a nodal officer appointed by the district administration to monitor swine flu cases, said Gopal's throat swab samples were sent to Kolkata last Sunday and it was confirmed he had contracted the H1N1 virus.