A 20-year-old engineering student who had been undergoing treatment for serious burn injuries at the Safdarjung hospital in New Delhi was allegedly asked to leave the hospital when the victims of the Samjhauta Express blasts were brought in.

Relatives of Vijay Kumar Sahu, a first year engineering student, claimed that as soon as victims of the train blasts arrived at the burns ward of the hospital, the doctors asked them to remove Sahu to some other hospital. "They (doctors) told us to leave the hospital saying he has recovered now," said Manisha Rani, Sahu's sister.

She said her brother, who could not even talk properly at present, was admitted to the burns ward of the hospital on February 8 after a cooking gas explosion caused him to suffer 50 per cent burns. "Doctors had told us that he will require at least 25 days' treatment at the hospital. But suddenly they asked us to leave on Monday morning," she said.

The hospital authorities could not be contacted for comments despite repeated attempts.