Mahajan's condition critical

Doctors attending on senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Pramod Mahajan at Hinduja Hospital appeared quite pessimistic on Tuesday evening, as his condition deteriorated further a day after he developed Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS).

In their last-ditch bid to revive Mahajan, the doctors enhanced support levels to "quite an extent as of now". "His overall condition has deteriorated over the last 24 hours. Lots of things are being taken care of by the doctors," hospital director Anupam Verma said.

That the BJP leader's condition had never seen this level of deterioration since he was admitted to the hospital on April 22 after being shot thrice in his lower chest and abdomen by younger brother Pravin was evident from the candid admission by Verma, who admitted it was "a matter of concern".

"He continues to be on life support in the form of mechanical ventilation, ionotropes and CRRT. The ARDS has further worsened and is causing concern. The advanced and sophisticated modes of ventilation have not improved the situation. His condition is very critical," Verma added.

The team of doctors led by Daver and Kapadia was monitoring Mahajan's condition on a "minute-to-minute" basis, he said. Meanwhile, Praveen Mahajan, has been booked in another case for cheating a city businessman of Rs 8.5 lakh in a bus purchase deal.

Police said businessman Uday Shankar Mishra had entered into a contract with Praveen five years back for purchase of two luxury buses, reportedly owned by the latter for a sum of Rs 17 lakh. Praveen had handed over only one of the two buses to Mishra, even though complete payment was made, the complainant has said.