A day after Karnal superintendent of police (SP) suspended station house officer (SHO) Deepak Kumar, accused of allegedly assaulting an on-duty medical officer (MO), doctors continued to suspend work on Friday, bringing health services to a standstill throughout the Karnal district.
On the other hand, political activists, sarpanches and other residents of Gharounda town met deputy commissioner (DC) Uttam Singh and civil surgeon Dr Poonam Chaudhary at their offices, seeking an impartial probe and action against the “erring doctor”. They also demanded that health services in the district, particularly in Gharounda resume at the earliest, otherwise, a complete shutdown of the town’s markets will be observed.
The incident occurred on Wednesday night when MO Prashant Chauhan, posted at a Community Health Center (CHC) called SHO Deepak Kumar for rescue after a group of patients threatened them. It was alleged that when the SHO arrived, he assaulted Chauhan and detained him at the police station.
Chauhan was released only after an apology and intervention from senior officials. The SHO alleged that the doctor used abusive language during their conversation over the phone. However, the SHO was suspended pending a departmental enquiry. Despite the action, the doctors suspended health services, demanding that a criminal case be registered against the SHO and his four staffers involved in the brawl at the CHC. The doctors also released video footage of the incident.
On late Thursday evening, SP Narendra Bijarniya met the protesting doctors at the CMO office. Dr Anil Yadav, president of the Haryana Civil Medical Services Association, claimed that the SP accepted that the SHO committed an illegal act of confinement. “Doctors are upset with the incident. But no case has been registered against the cops. We filed a police complaint through the proper channel to the SP office. We have also demanded a judicial enquiry as we are not satisfied with the police procedures so far,” he added.
