THANE: A case has been registered against Shiv Sena corporator Ramesh Mhatre and five others for allegedly assaulting two doctors at a civic-run hospital in Maharashtra’s Thane district after the family of a newborn was advised to shift the baby to another facility, police said on Wednesday.The incident took place at the Shastri Nagar Hospital, run by the Kalyan Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC), in Kalyan on Monday evening.A video of the incident, purportedly showing the corporator assaulting the doctors, later went viral on social media.The FIR was registered on Tuesday night following outrage and pressure from the Indian Medical Association (IMA), which had threatened to shut clinics and hospitals in the area if immediate action was not taken.According to police, doctors Srishti Bawiskar and Vaibhav Salunkhe had advised the relatives of a newborn to shift the baby to another hospital due to a lack of space in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU).Angered by the advice, the relatives contacted the corporator, who allegedly reached the hospital, abused and assaulted the doctors. Dr Salunkhe sustained injuries in the incident.KDMC medical health officer Dr Deepa Shukla and hospital staff approached the police late on Monday night, but a case was not registered at the time.The video of the alleged assault surfaced on social media on Tuesday afternoon, prompting criticism from the public and medical bodies, which accused the ruling Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena of shielding the corporator.Demanding the immediate arrest of Mhatre and his associates, hospital staff staged a “work-stop” protest on Tuesday.A delegation of IMA’s Kalyan and Dombivli units, along with leaders of the civic workers’ union, also met KDMC commissioner Abhinav Goyal.The IMA also threatened to shut all private clinics and hospitals in the region on Wednesday if an FIR was not registered. It also demanded the immediate arrest of the corporator and his supporters.Police subsequently booked the corporator, his four male supporters and a woman under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), including those related to assault or criminal force against a public servant, voluntarily causing hurt, criminal intimidation, intentional insult, unlawful assembly and rioting.Assistant commissioner of police Suhas Nemade said an investigation is underway and no arrests have been made so far.(With inputs from PTI)
