Meerut, Nov 24 (IANS): Srikesh Kumar, who had been kept in the mortuary freezer for more than seven hours after being presumed dead and later slipped into a coma, has passed away.

He breathed his last late on Tuesday night.

Kumar, 40, had been admitted to the Lala Lajpat Rai Memorial (LLRM) medical college in Meerut.

After he had slipped into a coma, he was on ventilator support and doctors put him under conservative treatment using medicines.

Addressing reporters, his brother Satyanand Gautam, said: "My brother fought for his life but lost the battle after five days. He wanted to live. He showed signs of recovery as he used to respond whenever we called his name. His vitals were normal. However, he had a clot in his brain. We will take action against everyone responsible for his death."

Kumar was taken to a private hospital for treatment on the night of November 18 after an accident in Moradabad city, where doctors said he had suffered an internal head injury.

After treatment, doctors gave up and referred him to a higher centre. His kin brought him to the district hospital, where the doctor on duty pronounced him dead and put him in the mortuary freezer before a post-mortem could be done the next day.

Nearly seven hours later, when a 'panchnama', a document signed by family members after identifying the body and agreeing to an autopsy, was to be filed, Kumar's sister-in-law, Madhu Bala, noticed that he was showing signs of movement.

He was then taken out and shifted to Meerut for advanced treatment.

Moradabad's chief medical superintendent, Dr Shiv Singh, had said that it could be a case of 'suspended animation', where there is a temporary cessation of many vital organs without death, which could lead to extraordinary situations such as this.