In an unusual medical case, as many as 40 knives were surgically removed from the stomach of a policeman in Amritsar who swallowed them over a period of two months because he felt the "urge" to do so.
"It started in June when I swallowed the first knife and I enjoyed the feeling. It soon became a habit, " NDTV quoted him as saying.
The Punjab policeman, posted at Tarn Taran district, underwent a five-hour long surgery at Corporate Hospital, Amritsar, after he approached them with complaints of stomach ache and excessive weight loss.
“A series of ultrasounds followed by various tests, including endoscopy and CT scan, related to the stomach were carried out before the surgery as the patient was admitted in the hospital with severe weight loss, besides multiple ailments.
“In the beginning, cancer was suspected but during investigation some hard metal substances were found inside the stomach that had damaged liver and kidney and other organs, ” said Dr. Jitendra Malhotra, MD of Corporate Hospital who led the team of doctors during the operation.
The patient recovering from the surgery is likely to undergo psychological assessment before being discharged from the hospital.