Srinagar, December 11, 2013: A 60-year-old patient suffering from serious cardiac ailment died in Srinagar hospital due to the negligence of the traffic police.
The family of 60-year-old Abdul Rahim Dar resident of Yansoo Handwara said that he died after the ambulance that was taking him to hospital was stopped by a police official, for the continuous use of its siren. The heart patient, was reportedly being taken to a Srinagar hospital when the ambulance was stopped by a mobile magistrate, or a roving court official, near Sopore.
The civilian lost his life because the traffic police had stopped his ambulance asking them to remove the beacon and the siren of the vehicle at Seelu in Sopore town and didn’t let them move ahead. “I was ferrying the patient and I reached Seelu, the authorities stopped me and opened all the lights and siren of ambulance. They kept the siren near ambulance tyre and asked me to break it,” Manzoor Ahmad, the ambulance driver working in Handwor district hospital, said.
He said that the authorities made the ambulance wait for more than 30 minutes and that he repeatedly requested the officials about the critical condition of the patient but to no avail. “I requested them several times that the patient is in a critical condition with a major cardiac attack but they made me to wait on the road side and smashed the siren.”
So due to the delay in reaching the hospital, a patient, identified as Abdul Rehman, died on the way to the hospital. The police have been charged with murder by the relatives of the deceased.
Dar's family said that policemen who were also at the spot broke the siren of the vehicle and refused to let it go. "I told them there was a patient in the ambulance, but they did not listen, they stopped us for 15 minutes and we couldn't reach Srinagar on time," said Dar's daughter, Hamida Banu.
Dar was reportedly declared dead on arriving at the hospital. His family says he could have been saved if he had reached on time. He had reportedly been referred to a super-speciality hospital for his serious heart condition.
“I was ferrying the patient from Handwara to Soura Institute of Medical Sciences. As I reached Seelu Sopore, the authorities stopped me and took out all the lights and siren of ambulance. They kept the siren near ambulance tyre and asked me to break the same,” Manzoor Ahmad, the ambulance driver working in Handwara district hospital said.
He further stated that the authorities made the ambulance wait for more than 30 minutes and that he repeatedly requested the officials about the critical condition of the patient but to no avail. “I requested them several times that the patient is in a critical condition with a major cardiac attack but they made me to wait on the road side and smashed the siren.”
According to the ambulance driver a 60-year-old Abdul Rahman Dar, resident of Yansoo Handwara was admitted at District hospital Handwara under MRD number 11408, dated December 9, 2013.