LUCKNOW: Amid allegations of lawlessness and anarchy prevailing in the state, the brutal murder of Allahabad's noted surgeon Dr Ashwani Kumar Bansal has come as another tide in the troubled waters for the ruling party whose first family is already grappling with intense infighting.
Coming in the times of state elections, the incident has triggered talks about ‘poll-time extortion’ to be a reason for killing but the district police is yet to confirm it.
Dr Bansal, director of well-known Jeevan Jyoti Group of Hospitals in Allahabad, was shot from a point blank range by two unidentified assailants while he was sitting in his chamber and examining patients on Thursday evening. He had just reached the hospital and had started with his daily consultation when armed killers barged in and shot him from a very close range targeting his head, causing panic in the busy hospital.
The injured doctor, with at least one gunshot in his head and two in the jaw, was rushed to the operation theatre of his own hospital and was immediately operated upon by a team of leading doctors of Allahabad. After battling for life for over five hours, Dr Bansal succumbed and declared dead around 10:30 pm. He is survived by his wife and noted Infertility and IVF specialist, Dr Vandana Bansal, and two sons.
Dr Bansal himself was a renowned laparoscopic surgeon. As per the eyewitness account, the doctor was shot thrice as the assailants fired four rounds before leaving the scene amidst the chaos. An uneasy calm gripped the city on Friday with the doctors lodging their protest through demonstrations and UP chapter of Indian Medical Association (IMA) calling an emergency meeting to condemn the unfortunate incident.
In the meeting, the IMA office-bearers demanded that the state government should get Dr Bansal’s killers arrested within the next 24 hours otherwise doctors across the state would go on strike. Moreover, Allahabad Medical Association (AMA) also held a meeting to express grief over the doctor’s killing and annoyance over the prevailing lawlessness.
“CCTV footages are being examined and all round efforts are on to nab the miscreants,” said SSP Allahabad, Shalabh Mathur. However, a police post is situated on the hospital premises where the incident took place.
As the reason for the murder is yet to be ascertained, the SSP said that it seemed to be a case of contract killing. Personal enmity also cannot be ruled out in the case as Dr Bansal was known to have a personal property dispute with a land mafia of the area.
Flaying the incident, state BJP unit again drew state government’s attention towards the ‘prevailing poor law and order situation’ in the state. “Law and order machinery is in a shambles under Samajwadi Party rule. Governance is not a priority for them. It is a gundaraaj,” said BJP spokesman Dr Chandramohan.