THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Thiruvananthapuram police on Saturday arrested two security guards of a private firm for assaulting the bystander of a patient alleging that he had tried to trespass into the hospital ward. The two wer on duty at Medical College Hospital.
The police are on the lookout for the third person who is still at large. The arrested are Vishnu and Ratheesh. However, they were let off on bail as they were charged only bailable offences. The charges are Section 341 (punishment for wrongful restraint), 294B (sings, recites or utters any obscene song, ballad or words, in or near any public place) and 324 (voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means) of Indian Penal Code.
"The guards were arrested based on the complaint by Arun Dev, a resident of Kizhuvilam. Efforts are on to arrest one more guard who was involved in the incident. We will arrest him soon," said inspector P Harilal of Medical College police.
The incident occurred on Friday when Arun was taking care of his grandmother, who is undergoing treatment in ward 17. He has been staying in the hospital for the last few days and was going to hand over the hospital pass to his relative when he was stopped by the security men. The who were on duty at the medical college hospital
The security men alleged that Arun was also trying to sneak in with his relative and questioned him. Though Arun told them that he was going out and the man, who was with him, was to replace him, the security personel did not relent and picked up a quarrel which culminated in a physical fight.
In his complaint, Arun told police that three security men took him inside the hospital, locked the gate from inside, and assaulted him. Police sources said that a case has been registered against a guard named Vishnu and two others on Arun's complaint. The police said the three were deployed by a private security agency.
The police said highhandedness of security guards has become a usual affair as the police have been getting regular complaints from the public regarding their conduct. Two cases were also registered against the guards last week for attacking bystanders near the Super Speciality block. The police have took up the matter to the hospital authorities.