Gurdaspur, June 29
Three private doctors have been arrested in connection with the death of a government schoolteacher, who reportedly died during
an operation to remove a stone from her gallbladder on Tuesday.
The deceased has been identified as Primaldeep Kaur, who was employed in Government High School in the district’s Pahra village.
Special treatment by cops?
- A video of two of the three accused doctors — Dr Manjit Singh Babbar and Dr HS Bhatia — being given “preferential treatment” in the City police station has gone viral on the social media
- SHO Gurmeet Singh claimed the video was made before the two doctors were arrested
- The family of the deceased alleged the two doctors had consumed liquor
Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Harjit Singh said Dr HS Bhatia, his son Dr Zorawar Singh Bhatia and Dr Manjit Singh Babbar had been booked under Sections 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and 34 (criminal acts committed with a common intention) of the IPC.
Section 304 carries a term of 10 years extendable till life imprisonment.
Sources say the police were under “tremendous pressure” to either let the accused off the hook or dilute the FIR. “The SSP stood his ground,” disclosed a deceased’s relative.
The police acted after they received a complaint from the deceased’s husband Sukhraj Singh, who is an officer with the Merchant Navy, pertaining to “criminal negligence” on the part of the doctors.
As the news of Primaldeep’s death spread, a crowd gathered in front of Dr Bhatia’s hospital located in the Civil Lines area. The victim’s family members reportedly took Dr HS Bhatia hostage in the operation theatre.
Sukhraj claimed Dr HS Bhatia injected anaesthesia in his wife’s spine instead of calling in a specialist. “A spinal anaesthesiologist’s fee is Rs 2,200. Just to save this amount, the doctor took my wife’s life,” he claimed.
Sukhraj claimed the moment the doctors realised they had botched up the operation, Dr Zorawar asked him to “shift his wife to some other private hospital.”
Woman dies during surgery, 3 docs held
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