A Shiv Sena city-level leader was arrested and remanded to one day of police custody after an alleged assault and intimidation incident at Relief Hospital in Palghar involving hospital staff and patients admitted after the Dahi Handi celebrations. The party has also announced his suspension over the incident.
Rahul Gharat appeared at Palghar police station in connection with the case and was later produced before the Palghar civil court. The court, presided over by Civil Judge (Junior Division) S.R. Bandal, granted the police one day of custody, according to the report.
The complaint concerns an incident in which Shiv Sena workers allegedly abused and assaulted hospital employees while attempting to secure the release of Govindas receiving treatment at the facility. The complaint also alleges that Gharat entered the intensive care unit and pressured patients to leave the hospital against medical advice.
CCTV footage reportedly captured Shiv Sena district chief Kundan Sankhe allegedly threatening to damage the hospital and verbally abusing a woman medical officer while discussions were under way about the treatment of the injured Govindas. Gharat is alleged to have slapped an employee at the hospital’s reception area.
A case has been registered at Palghar police station against 10 local Shiv Sena office-bearers and workers, along with seven unidentified individuals. The complaint invokes provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Maharashtra Medicare Service Persons and Medicare Service Institutions (Prevention of Violence and Damage or Loss to Property) Act.
Six or seven of the named accused reportedly appeared at the police station in the presence of elected representatives and local Shiv Sena office-bearers. Police are examining the individual roles of the remaining accused, including what occurred inside the intensive care unit. Police Inspector Kishor Manbhav told Loksatta that investigators were reviewing available video footage and indicated that further action could follow.
The incident was also referred to during a Supreme Court hearing in a bail matter involving corporator Ramesh Mhatre, according to the report. A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta expressed concern while discussing the recent Palghar incident and an alleged attack on doctors.
Shiv Sena chief leader and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde announced that Gharat would be suspended from the party. Speaking to reporters after a meeting of the western regional council in Goa, Shinde described the Palghar incident as unfortunate and said that assaulting doctors or hospital staff could not be justified. He said that any complaint regarding a patient’s treatment should be pursued through legal channels rather than by taking the law into one’s own hands.
Shinde said the party would not support such conduct and warned party workers that violence against doctors would not be tolerated. Police action against the other accused will depend on the ongoing examination of the complaint, CCTV footage and their alleged roles in the hospital incident.
