Prahalad Jani mystery remains unsolved
Express News Service
<http://www.indianexpress.com/columnist/expressnewsservice/> May 07
2010, Ahmedabad:
We cannot comment for or against his claim of remaining without food for
several years, says DIPAS director
Doctors from the Defence Institute of Physiology and Allied
Sciences (DIPAS), which operates under the Defence Research and
Development Organisation (DRDO), and Sterling Hospital held a press
conference to mark the end of the observations on 82-year-old Prahalad
Jani who claims to have not eaten or drank anything in the last 70
years.
The 15-day observation, which ended on Thursday, has thrown up no
specific information which DIPAS is "ready to declare". But the
test results agree with those of a 2003 study on him, said sources.
"During the observation period, Jani did not consume anything and
did not pass stool. The only contact with any form of fluid that he had
was during gargling and bathing activities during the study," said
DIPAS director Dr Ilavazhagan.
"I must once again clarify that we have done the study for 15 days
and cannot really comment for or against Jani's claim of remaining
without food or water for several years," he continued.
Officials and doctors also declined to divulge how much money had been
spent on the 15-day observation, which involved at least 29 doctors and
7 support staff.
However, one set (MRI tests) of the 6 different sets of testing came at
a price tag of Rs 1.25 lakh.
Dr Urman Dhruv, one of the doctors who was part of the observation, said
the MRI was "conducted free-of-charge at the Gujarat Radiological
Institute".
Sterling Hospitals CEO Rajiv Sharma said, "There is no budget per
se. Sterling Hospitals provided the infrastructure."
He declined to comment on the expenditure made by the hospital on the
test.
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