VARANASI, April 16 -- A surgeon's knife paused midway through an operation at Trauma Centre, Institute of Medical Sciences, Banaras Hindu University (IMS-BHU), on March 7 when a shocking discovery emerged: the wrong patient lay on the table. A name mismatch had led the orthopaedics team to operate on a 71-year-old's leg instead of her spine. The confusion arose because two patients with identical names were admitted to different departments, Radhika Devi, 71, in neurosurgery and Radhika Devi, 82, in orthopaedics with a fractured leg. The surgery was immediately halted when an incision revealed normal bone tissue rather than the expected spinal condition. The patient was shifted to the neurosurgery department. A correct spinal surgery was performed on March 18. Radhika Devi, 82, remained admitted for seven days following the procedure. Her grandson Mrityunjay Pal stated that on the morning of March 27, his grandmother developed severe respiratory distress and died due to cardiopulmonary arrest. Pal filed a complaint on April 1, alleging the erroneous surgery triggered severe complications: ulcers, memory loss, tremors in the jaw, oral pain, breathing difficulties. "Prior to the surgery, no information whatsoever was provided to us," Pal alleged. "When I asked about the surgery, the staff behaved rudely, hurling abuses." According to the Trauma Centre in-charge professor Saurabh Singh's report, the orthopaedics 'B' team performed the surgery at 12:45 PM on March 7. "The error was discovered only after an incision was made near her thigh." IMS-BHU director professor S.N. Sankhwar said, "This is a very serious matter. A committee has been formed to investigate. An investigation is underway to determine the level of error. Action will be taken against those responsible once the report is complete." A four-member fact-finding committee was initially constituted on April 2, but was reconstituted on April 13 after the original chairman from orthopaedics requested relief due to the error being committed by his department. The committee has 10 days to submit its report....