Palghar hospital assault: 17 booked after doctors, staff allegedly attacked
At least 17 people, including Shiv Sena office-bearers, have been booked after doctors and staff were allegedly assaulted at a hospital in Maharashtra's Palghar district. The incident reportedly followed a dispute over a Rs 19,866 treatment bill during a Govinda's discharge
Mumbai: In another case of hospital misconduct, Shiv Sena office-bearers allegedly assaulted doctors and other staff at a healthcare facility in Maharashtra’s Palghar district, officials said on Sunday.
Palghar Police have registered a case against at least 17 people, including members of the Eknath Shinde-led faction.
According to the CCTV visuals, one of them also slapped a receptionist and threatened a woman employee when they tried to intervene, NDTV reported.
The incident reportedly took place early on Sunday after a commotion erupted in the corridors of ‘Relief Hospital’ over the discharge of a ‘Govinda’ (participants who form human pyramids to reach and break a suspended earthen pot during the ‘Dahi Handi’ festival).
According to officials, a dispute broke out over the treatment costs of the ‘Govindas’, injured during a ‘Dahi Handi’ event.
The members of the ‘Govinda’ troupe reportedly got angry after they were handed a bill of Rs 19,866 during their discharge.
A heated argument followed, and members of the Shiv Sena allegedly verbally abused, threatened, and assaulted the hospital staff present there.
As per the complaint lodged by a hospital employee, Shiv Sena district chief Kundan Sankhe, city chief Rahul Gharat, and others had entered the hospital’s emergency department and got into an argument with the doctors. A receptionist who tried to intervene was seen being slapped on CCTV visuals.
Some of the party members even barged into the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the hospital.
Adding to the allegation, the hospital staff said that the mob threatened a nurse in the ICU, removed the IV drip of an injured ‘Govinda’, and took him with them.
Palghar Police have registered a case under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Medical Services Protection Act.
At least 17 individuals have been named in the case, including Shiv Sena leaders Sankhe, Gharat, and Rohit Gavit, son of local MLA Rajendra Gavit.
Further investigation is underway, with the police scanning CCTV footage and checking other evidence.
In a similar case reported in July, a Shiv Sena Corporator was accused of assaulting doctors at a civic hospital in Kalyan.
A case was registered against the accused Ramesh Mhatre.
Subsequently, the Bombay High Court had cancelled the bail granted to him in the case, directing him to surrender before police.
