Cop dies as barricades block ambulance entry inside court

Vadodara: An assistant sub-inspector with Jawaharnagar police station died after he suffered a cardiac arrest outside a court room at the new court complex in Diwalipura on Tuesday afternoon. The incident went viral on social media because the ambulance that had reached there to attend Arvind Vasava was parked at a distance from the court building due to barricades inside the court complex.
Vasava was waiting outside a judicial magistrate’s court on second floor of the building when he suddenly started feeling uneasy. As Vasava collapsed on the floor, another policeman who had come for some other work immediately called 108 emergency services. Several people present there managed to bring him on the ground floor.

Within few minutes, a 108 GVK-EMRI ambulance reached the court complex, but it was stuck near a barricade placed inside the court campus to prevent vehicles from driving right up to the building. Because of the barricades, the ambulance’s stretcher could not be taken inside. However, the ambulance staff brought a cloth and took Vasava till the ambulance with the help of several visitors and other cops.

Vasava was rushed to GMERS medical college and hospital where the doctors declared him brought dead. His body was later taken to SSG Hospital for post-mortem. Sources in 108 emergency services said that when the ambulance reached there, Vasava was already in a critical condition. But since the ambulance could not reach till the main building, lot of time was wasted. “If the ambulance could have reached till the main building there could have been chances of Vasava’s survival,” officials said.

Besides the automatic barrier and low-height pillars, police barricades have also been placed there and tied with rope so that nobody can move them. But the barrier is opened and the barricades are removed when senior police officials visit the court for work. Their official cars are driven right up to the staircases of the main building and also remained parked there until the officer returns.

As the news of Vasava’s death spread in the court, it became a talking point among the court staff and lawyers. Their discussions revolved around the argument that had there not been barricades, Vasava could have been saved.

It was only last month, when a wheel-chair bound litigant had to return home after his wheel-chair could not enter because of the same barricades. A video of the litigant criticizing the government for placing such barricades was widely circulated on social media.