Patient kin assaulted at SSKM during clash

Kolkata: A youth who had come to get his father released from SSKM Hospital after treatment had to be admitted to the hospital himself with severe head injuries after he got caught in a clash between two groups on the hospital premises on Sunday morning.
Rioters on motorcycles, armed with hockey sticks and cricket stumps, wreaked havoc for over 20 minutes.Five miscreants have been arrested so far.
The incident triggered criticism from protesting junior doctors and kin of patients. The junior doctors said that the incident highlighted the lack of security inside hospitals where goons can go around unchecked.
Lalbazar launched multiple raids across a dozen places in Kolkata after identifying some of the accused from CCTV footage. The five arrested — identified as Arman Barua, Jeet Ghosh, Abhijit Ghosh, Niyaz Ahmed, and Shahnawaz Ali Khan — are all residents of Alipore and Chetla. The cops said that they were members of two rival gangs that allegedly have “connections with an influential Trinamool leader”. They have been charged under sections 189(2), 189(4), 117(1), 118(1), 324(6), and 103 of the BNS. All are aged between 18 and 28.
According to local sources, it was after 8 am on Sunday when the incident took place.Sourav Modak, the son of a patient undergoing treatment at the trauma care centre since Oct 3, was mistaken to be a “member of the rival gang” and thrashed mercilessly.
Witnesses claim that a group of around 20 people, armed with stumps and hockey sticks, surrounded Modak, beat him up and sped away on their bikes. Sourav’s condition is reported to be critical, with injuries to his head, face, legs, and wrists.
Several junior doctors claimed that the accused kept searching someone for some time before they surrounded Modak. Police, claimed junior doctors, were present at the scene but turned a blind eye.
“I do not know why I was assaulted. I was standing near the oxygen supply room when they hit me,” said Modak.
Kinjal Nanda, representing the junior doctors stated, “The fresh incident of rampage by miscreants at SSKM Hospital clearly demonstrates the validity of our 10-point demands. Patients, their families, and healthcare workers are not safe.”
A junior doctor said: “This is what 90% security looks like! Miscreants caused havoc in a major govt hospital in the heart of Kolkata early in the morning and left without anyone being able to do anything.”
Police reported that the bikes used by the suspects have been seized. Police are not ruling out the possibility that Modak had earlier been involved in an argument with the suspects. And on Sunday, as he was heading to the hospital, youths from the other group followed him, and assaulted him.