JAMSHEDPUR, April 20 -- The prime accused in the shocking case in which six thalassemic children being transfused HIV infected blood at the Chaibasa Sadar Hospital (CSH) in West Singhbhum district in October 2025 was arrested from Ranchi in the night of Friday (April 17), senior Jharkhand police officers said on Sunday. "The lone accused named in the FIR, Manoj Prasad, lab technician at the CSH blood bank, has been arrested. He was absconding for long. The blood bank register with the list of the donors has also been seized and submitted in the high court. Prasad has been sent to judicial custody," Pankaj Choudhary, investigating officer posted at Chaibasa Sadar police station told HT on Sunday. The FIR was registered on February 7 after an HC order for the same on February 4. The HC on April 8 had also ordered the state government to submit a supplementary affidavit detailing the investigation status report into the criminal lapses in transfusing HIV infected blood to thalassemia patient children by April 21. The children, aged between 5 to 7 years, had received multiple blood transfusions at the hospital, and their families had alleged that lapses in donor screening and blood bank oversight led to the transmission of HIV. Meanwhile, the families of five of the children have filed a writ petition in the high court, demanding a compensation of Rs.1 crore per chid. "We filed a petition in HC on Saturday (April 18) seeking compensation of Rs.1 crore per child, lifelong free and high-quality medical treatment, including continued care for Thalassemia with safe screened blood transfusions, lifetime supply of Anti-Retroviral Therapy and associated drugs," said Mohd Shadab, the lawyer representing the five families, on Sunday. The state government had announced an ex-gratia of Rs.2 lakh each to families of the five affected children right after the shocking incident came to fore on October 25, 2025. The petitioners, all suffering from Thalassemia Major-a genetic blood disorder requiring regular transfusions-are from ST and OBC communities in West Singhbhum and Saraikela Kharsawan districts. Their families live in kutcha houses and depend on daily wage labour....