A finger that a 35-year-old engineer lost in an accident on Wednesday allegedly went missing from CMRI hospital, where he was admitted to undergo plastic surgery to get it refixed.

The hospital has ordered an inquiry.

Police said Nilotpal Chakrabarty, a resident of Andul in Howrah, met with an accident while driving his bike down Foreshore Road in the district on Wednesday afternoon.

Family members said the middle finger of Chakrabarty’s left hand got stuck between the handle and the clutch lever when he fell and a part of it got severed.

“He managed to visit a private hospital in Howrah with the severed finger wrapped in a piece of paper. A surgeon at the hospital referred him to a plastic surgeon at CMRI. We reached CMRI within two hours and met the surgeon,” said Chayanika, the engineer’s wife.

On advice of the plastic surgeon, family members handed over the severed finger to an employee of the emergency department for preservation.

Before leaving the hospital on Wednesday afternoon, the surgeon told the family that he would perform a reconstructive surgery to refix the finger to the hand the next day.

The surgery was scheduled for 10am on Thursday. “Around noon, the hospital authorities told us that the finger could not be found,” said Chayanika.

Shocked, the Chakrabartys lodged a complaint against the hospital with Alipore police station. Police officers said a preliminary inquiry had been started.

“The hospital authorities have apologised but that won’t fetch us the missing finger. My husband has become handicapped for life,” the patient’s wife said.

CMRI officials said a probe had been ordered. “A male patient was admitted to CMRI with a hand injury. The tip of the ring finger of his left hand was injured. The patient has been provided appropriate clinical care and his condition is stable,” an official said.