Journos also attacked and cameras were snatched by guards
The employees and private security guards of Synergy, Institute of Medical Sciences, Cantt Road, allegedly misbehaved with the family members of a deceased named Yam Bahadur, a contractual ONGC employee, who was admitted at the hospital after meeting an accident around RIMC area. He was declared brought dead by the doctors. Hospital staff also allegedly misbehaved with the media persons who had reached the hospital for coverage and allegedly tried to snatch their cameras.
A delegation of journalists met the Cantt Police and submitted a written complaint against the Synergy employees and the security guards over the incident. Uttarakhand News Cameramen's Association has condemned the attack on the cameramen and demanded action against those who were responsible for the incident.
However, SP City Ajay Singh said that police in adequate numbers were deployed after being informed about the protests at the site. He too had reached the site and managed to control the situation, he said. He had gone through the CCTV footages and nothing objectionable was found on the part of the Synergy employees. Even the journalists had not shown him their cameras allegedly broken by the Synergy officials.
He added that a DIT University student who was passing by RIMC had admitted having seen Yam Bahadur being brought dead to the hospital after the accident. With the intervention of the police, the body was kept in mortuary. "At hospital, one should keep silence. Police should be informed and those disgruntled with anything should not resort to protest in the hospital premises," he said.
Meanwhile, ONGC employees and local residents reached the hospital and raised voices against the hospital employees for not disclosing the name of the person who had brought Bahadur dead in the hospital.
Journalists who reached the spot were allegedly misbehaved by the hospital employees. They staged a sit-in at the hospital campus and demanded action against the hospital employees responsible. The senior Congress leader and former State Cabinet Minister Hira Singh Bisht also reached the site and spoke to the hospital management over the issue.
Anil Kumar, ONGC Contract Employees' Union general secretary, said that the hospital employees had refused to provide information while stating that they do not keep the records of names of those who bring the dead to the hospital. He further said the hospital employees and the security guards had misbehaved with him and other members of the union when they inquired about how Bahadur had died.
Bahadur was a contractual employee of ONGC and was returning from the office at 6 pm. He demanded an inquiry by the police to verify reason for Bahadur's death. Bahadur, a native of Nepal, had been living in Dehradun in the residence of an ONGC retired officer since childhood.
Cantt Police Station in-charge inspector VK Jetha said that the complaints were received from the representative of journalists and Synergy staff members. Police are reviewing CCTV footages of the hospital and action will be taken against those who are found guilty, he added.