CHANDIGARH: Another Chandigarh VIP has become embroiled in a controversy after he allegedly stopped an ambulance in mid-traffic and the patient being taken to hospital died due to delayed treatment.
The municipal council president of Fatehabad, Darshan Nagpal, belonging to the ruling BJP, allegedly stopped an ambulance for over half an hour after his car was involved in a minor accident with it in Chandigarh on Sunday morning.
The patient died half an hour after finally reaching the hospital. The bereaved family has lodged a complaint with the police.
In their written complaint, Sita Ram Soni and Arun Kumar Soni stated that their uncle Naveen Kumar was taken to a private hospital on Bhattu Road after he complained of uneasiness. The doctors there advised them to rush the patient to a cardiologist at a hospital located in Tau Devi Lal Market, 3 km away. So an ambulance was arranged.
At the Lalbati roundabout, Darshan Nagpal’s car collided with the ambulance. For the next half an hour, Nagpal engaged the ambulance driver in an argument and roughed him up. Consequently, medical attention to Naveen Kumar was delayed.
“We pleaded with Nagpal to allow us to shift our uncle to the hospital since his condition was serious. But he did not relent and wasted a precious half an hour. Our uncle died before he could be attended to by doctors,” said Arun Kumar Soni.
Soni further alleged that despite his complaint, police were dilly-dallying about registering a case against Nagpal and were rather pressuring him to ‘compromise’.
Local people demanded registration of a criminal case against Nagpal.
Terming these allegations as baseless, Nagpal said it was the ambulance that drove into his car but he chose not to stop it as there was a patient in it. “It was after the patient was dropped in the hospital that I took up the matter with the ambulance driver,” he said.
The station house officer of Fatehabad (city) Police Station, Atma Ram said a complaint has been received against Nagpal."We are inquiring into the matter. Both sides are in touch with each other to find a find an amicable solution,’’ he said.