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. http://www.indianexpress.com/news/prahalad-jani-mystery-remains-unsolved\ /616243/0