Tipsy cops create chaos at PGI

Speaking to Newsline,Bimla said,“When I asked Balbir not to drink as it is a hospital,he strangulated me and said that I am a menial safaiwali and should keep to myself.” After hearing her shrieks,two other PGI workers and attendant Chotu Ram came to Bimla’s aid. Balbir,who was in civil clothes at the time of the incident,slapped him four times in front of the attendants of other patients who had gathered there by then. When Chanan Ram,a male nurse tried to intervene,Balbir punched him in his face twice.

Following this,the head constable fled from the spot,leaving the prisoner in the custody of his junior,constable Sandeep Singh,who was reading a book all this while sitting next to Lakshmi Chand,the convict. Other attendants and PGI staffers who were present called up the PGI security men who reached the spot after 20 minutes. Balbir,however,had managed to escape by then.

While all this was happening,the heart patients of the ward had a harrowing time due to the ruckus. Sachin’s mother,who had a severe major heart attack,was lying on the bed right next to the convict. As soon as she heard the loud noises,she woke up and felt uneasy. “Balbir was slapping the the PGI ward attendant when I went out of the room to see where all the noise was coming from. I was so scared for my mother who had just had a heart attack”,said Sachin.

Manouwar Ali,a patient from Madhya Pradesh who had undergone heart surgery and was admitted to the bed next to that of the convict,said,“I was asleep when I suddenly heard loud abuses. I was petrified after I heard such loud abuses and threats.”

Iram Rizvi,sub-inspector at the PGI police post,said,“The cop in question has not returned to duty since Thursday night. We have deputed another constable in his place and have reported the matter to the seniors.” Sector 11 police station Station House Officer (SHO) Inspector Gurmukh Singh added,“We have already initiated action against the Head Constable who had indulged in such misconduct. He has also been marked absent from duty,which is as such a severe official misconduct.”

A written complaint has been sent to the PGI security wing and the police by the victims.

Naunihal: Minor altercation

Chandigarh Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Naunihal Singh said that he had asked the additional superintendent of police (ASP),Central,to probe the matter. “If the probe finds the policeman guilty,he will be dealt with under the law. But what I have come to know about the incident is that it was a minor altercation,” said Singh.