An unidentified man lay unconscious on the streets for an hour in front of Jal Vayu Towers (JVT) before help arrived and he could be identified as a cancer patient from Bangladesh.

On Saturday, JVT security guards spotted a middle-aged semi-clad man in physical distress. “They contacted me as I am on the NKDA citizen volunteer team. I was told that he was gasping in front of our entry gate and soon collapsed unconscious on the pavement. We got an umbrella to provide him shade from the sun as he was frothing at the mouth and I called another volunteer Samaresh Das,” said Syed Humayun Siraj, a JVT resident.

Another volunteer, Supriyo Chaudhuri, who stays in the neighbourhood, brought a shirt and lungi to put on him. The area being under the Kolkata Leather Complex police station, the thana was contacted by the New Town police station, which was initially alerted by the resident volunteers.

A sub-inspector from the KLC police station arrived from the outpost in front of Chittaranjan National Cancer Institute second campus, which is functioning as a Covid hospital, and searched the man’s belongings. “We found a phone number on him, on calling which we got to know that he was from Bangladesh and was getting chemotherapy treatment at Tata Memorial Center. Since he developed fever, he had been asked to get a Covid test done at the ID (Infectious Diseases) Hospital, Beleghata. But he must have mistaken the Chittaranjan National Cancer Institute for ID Hospital and was walking alone towards it when he lost consciousness. We tried reviving him by spraying water on his face while the police tried arranging for an ambulance,” said Das.

An hour and half later, the unconscious man was put on an ambulance. According to Swarup Kanti Pahari, the officer-in-charge of KLC police station, he was admitted to Chittaranjan National Cancer Institute in south Calcutta.

Later, the Bangladesh Deputy High Commission was alerted. He was identified as Mohd. Mojammel Hossein from Faridpur district.