An inmate of the psychiatry ward of the Sassoon General Hospital, Poonam Kalwaghe (19), went missing from the hospital on Monday morning after patients were forced to sit out in the open to enable fumigation of the ward.

Hours later, the patient was found on a Shivajinagar-bound bus in an incoherent state. The bus conductor contacted her parents and she returned to the hospital at 7 pm, hospital sources said.

Fumigation began at 9 am after all 60 inmates of the psychiatry ward were made to sit out in the open, escorted by their relatives or left alone, with no hospital staff for supervision. A couple of patients were tied to wheelchairs with ropes.

Kalwaghe was alone at the time and disappeared from the hospital premises. However, medical superintendent, Dr DB Kulkarni, denied that the patient was found on a bus and said she was on the hospital premises and found in minutes.

"I was told she was missing at 6 pm and within minutes she was found near the ward itself. She didn't go missing," he claimed.

He said an inquiry is being instituted into why patients were kept in the open and not shifted to another ward. "While it is true that bedbugs are a major issue in the psychiatry ward and patients' complaints are continuous. The department carried out the debugging activity on their own. We were not informed that pest control would be carried out and no permission was sought. Otherwise we would have suggested alternate options for accommodating patients," said Kulkarni.

He added that the inquiry will also look into complaints of missing patients and safety of other patients.

Head of psychiatry ward, Dr Alka Pawar, denied that the patient was missing, and stated that permission is always sought for carrying out pest control. "I was on leave so I do not know the details, but I can say that we always follow protocol while doing this activity. As far as patients sitting out in the open goes, they were accompanied by their relatives."

"This is an open ward. Everyday patients are allowed to move about on the premises accompanied by relatives. They are not bound within walls here," explained Pawar.

In April, patients and relatives had walked out of the ward for a day and sat in the open to protest against bedbugs, forcing hospital authorities to pay a visit and listen to their problems. The psychiatry ward is located in the oldest part of the building, built 125 years ago.