NEW DELHI: Delhi Police on Saturday shifted activist Sonam Wangchuk to Safdarjung Hospital after his health deteriorated during his indefinite hunger strike at Jantar Mantar, saying the move was made on doctors’ advice and in compliance with Delhi high court’s directions.According to police, doctors visited the protest site at around 7am as part of a routine medical examination and found that Wangchuk’s condition had worsened.An officer said the medical team immediately informed police, following which he was shifted. Police said the doctors had also advised them on Friday that Wangchuk be moved to a hospital.Police denied allegations that protesters were detained or that a lathicharge was carried out during the operation.Doctors at Safdarjung found that after fasting for 20 days, he was dehydrated. Despite medical advice, Wangchuk refused intravenous fluids, oral rehydration fluids and medication. The hospital said he was under continuous monitoring and counselling.Wangchuk’s wife, Gitanjali J Angmo, has written to the medical superintendent of Safdarjung asking that her husband be discharged as they want to shift him to a hospital of their choice.She said no oral or IV administration should be made to him without his family’s permission.Wangchuk denies urgent careWangchuk refused intravenous fluids, oral rehydration solution and medication despite an independent AIIMS expert endorsing Safdarjung Hospital’s assessment that he urgently requires fluid and electrolyte therapy.Doctors said Wangchuk remains conscious and haemodynamically stable but is showing clinical signs of dehydration, while his family has not yet consented to the recommended treatment.According to the latest health bulletin, the AIIMS expert concurred that immediate oral or intravenous fluid and electrolyte therapy is medically indicated to prevent further deterioration and potentially serious complications. An AIIMS doctor has also joined the treating team for continuous monitoring and clinical management.Earlier in the day, Wangchuk, 59, was brought by Delhi police and admitted at 7.40am on the 21st day of his hunger strike with generalised weakness. Investigations showed low serum potassium, blood sugar of 78 mg/dL and compensated metabolic acidosis — a condition in which prolonged fasting and dehydration cause acid to build up in the body while it continues to maintain its acid-base balance. Doctors also noted that urinary ketones had risen from 1+ to 3+ by 1pm, indicating worsening starvation-related ketosis.Despite repeated counselling by the treating team and the AIIMS expert, Wangchuk declined intravenous fluids, oral rehydration solution and all medication. The hospital said efforts were continuing to persuade both Wangchuk and his family to accept the recommended treatment. Wangchuk’s wife, Gitanjali J Angmo, posted on X that nothing should be administered without the consent of the family and the doctors who had been monitoring him over the past 20 days.She later wrote to the medical superintendent of Safdarjung Hospital seeking his discharge, alleging that the family had been denied access to laboratory reports and prevented from obtaining a second medical opinion after being informed that his potassium level had fallen to 2.9 from 4.3 the previous day. She also claimed that doctors monitoring him at the protest site were not being allowed to meet him and said the family wanted to shift him to a medical facility of their choice.
