Shooter Cops Had Just Minor Injuries

Despite this, Andhra Pradesh policemen were hospitalised for 96 hours, reveals doctor on duty on day of ‘encounter’

TIRUPATI: The injuries suffered by Task Force policemen during the “encounter” in Seshachalam forest on Apirl 7 in which 20 woodcutters from Tamil Nadu were shot dead, are understood to have been simple and did not warrant the policemen’s admission to SVR-RUIA government general hospital here.

According to a doctor who was among the team that “treated” the policemen, the injuries were too simple and yet they were admitted for 96 hours.

“All we did was to keep them under observation, monitoring their health condition which was not critical anyway,” said the doctor.

But on the day of encounter half of the outpatient ward of RUIA hospital was filled with “injured” task force and forest security personnel who were involved in the combing operation for almost 27 hours before the encounter took place.

According to task force officials, the policemen were admitted to hospital as they had suffered severe injuries in the attack from woodcutters en-masse during the combing operation, which in turn triggered the encounter.

What kind of wounds did the combing teams suffer that the treatment had to go on for 96 hours?

The hospital authorities said, the injured personnel were kept under observation with special doctors monitoring their health condition round the clock. But sources say that as the injuries were ‘simple’, the care given to them was not warranted.

The injuries pertaining to medico-legal cases are of two types — simple and grievous. “A patient will be attended to by the doctor or surgeon based on the nature of wounds. The injuries to security personnel do not come under the category of ‘grievous’ wounds, to consider them as serious or very serious. We did not even find severe cuts or slit marks by weapons such as sickles or axe,” a source said.

Among the total 11 injured personnel, the doctors found four of them with lacerated wounds mainly on elbows, shoulders and limbs, and partly on the head. The remaining patients suffered cervical injuries and hair line fractures in joints.

During the admission, most of the patients were dehydrated and exhausted. “The patients had said they were starving for more than 27 hours in the forest for which primary attention was given to rehydration,” a doctor said on condition of anonymity.

The treatment given for 96 long hours covered  only immobilization, medication with some antibiotics and conservative methods to treat fractures. The cuts were seen on one or two patients on the limbs and above the wrist. Those were sutured.

The patient with cervical wounds on the neck was immobilized and non-surgical treatment like physiotherapy and medication was given.

Cops rewarded for star catch

Kurnool: DGP JV Ramudu on Monday rewarded the police personnel who apprehended film actress Nitu Agarwal (in pic) in connection with red sanders smuggling. The DGP met district police officers, along with Kurnool range DIG BV Ramana Kumar and SP A Ravi Krishna. He discussed the arrest and inquired about Mastan Vali, and Gangi Reddy who is in Mauritius.

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