Police booked a heart specialist, his younger brother and seven employees of a hospital in Muzaffarnagar on Saturday for allegedly opening fire in the air and beating up the attendants of a Covid-19 patient who died late on Friday night. The attendants were allegedly attacked when they tried to inquire about the line of treatment given to the deceased at the Saini Heart Institute, police said.
The attendants claimed that the area police had initially refused to lodge an FIR against doctor Devendra Saini, his brother, Manish, and the others.
On the other hand, police booked the attendants on charges of creating a ruckus at the hospital. Later, after local BJP legislator from Purkaji Pramod Utwal intervened and brought the matter to the notice of the Chief Minister’s Office,
Saini, Manish and seven other staff of the hospital were booked for attempt to murder and other relevant sections of the IPC.
Saini Heart Institute was converted into a designated Covid hospital following shortage of beds in Muzaffarnagar.
The deceased’s son, Manoj Gupta, said, “When we tried to inquire into the line of treatment given to my father, Narendra Gupta (55), Saini became furious and slapped me. When we objected, Manish opened fire in the air to scare us and also provoked the other staff to attack us. We tried to register an FIR at Muzaffarnagar Kotwali against the hospital owner and other staff, but we were turned away by the police. However, Kotwali police lodged an FIR against us on charges of creating a havoc in the hospital.”
BJP MLA Utwal said, “The attendants of the deceased sought my help when the local police refused to lodge an FIR based on their complaint. When I inquired about the incident, I found their allegations against the doctor and other staff members to be true. So, I intervened and also informed the CM’s office in Lucknow.”
“FIRs have been registered against both the groups. The area police is investigating all the charges. The guilty will not be spared,” said SSP Muzaffarnagar Abhishek Yadav.
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