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21-year-old stabbed to death, cop suspended for not registering a case
New Delhi: A 21-year-old call centre employee, who was also pursuing his BA degree through correspondence from Delhi University (DU), died at a government hospital
New Delhi: A 21-year-old call centre employee, who was also pursuing his BA degree through correspondence from Delhi University (DU), died at a government hospital in central Delhi on Thursday, eight days after he was stabbed by a group of robbers near Pratap Nagar Metro station in north Delhi.
A sub-inspector (SI) has been suspended while the station house officer (SHO) of the Gulabi Bagh police station was removed from his post for not registering a first information report (FIR), police said. The call centre employee was robbed of R1,200 and stabbed at least three times in his thigh and abdomen by the robbers.
Joint commissioner of police (central) Suvashis Choudhary, said, “Instead of filing an FIR and taking prompt action against the robbers, the sub-inspector closed the matter just because the complainant and his family members gave in writing that they did not want to pursue the case, as he won’t be able to identify the robbers. The SI should have taken suo-moto cognizance. The SHO has been sent to district lines since supervision of crime-related calls and registration of cases were his responsibility,” said Choudhary.
The dead man, Lakhan (identified only by his first name in police records), lived with family in Shastri Nagar in north Delhi and worked at a call centre in Anand Parbat. His family has alleged that the police did not register a case when the crime took place on July 1.
The FIR was registered and the suspects were arrested only after Lakhan succumbed to his wounds at the Ram Manohar Lohia hospital on Thursday (July 9).
The family has also alleged that Lakhan was not given proper treatment at Aruna Asaf Ali hospital, where he was admitted after he was injured in the attack on the intervening night of July 1 and 2. They blamed the doctors for discharging him after stitching his wounds.
Lakhan’s father Pooran, who works as a salesman in a departmental store, told media persons that his son was returning home from office when he was attacked and robbed. “We had got a call from the hospital that our son was injured. We reached there and Lakhan told us about the robbery and attack. We asked the doctors to operate him but they discharged him after preliminary medical attention,” Pooran told the media persons.
When contacted, Dr Sumant Sinha, medical superintendent (MS) of Aruna Asaf Ali hospital, refuted the allegations and said that the doctors cleaned the wounds and gave requisite injections and medications.
“The patient’s family was asked to bring him to the surgery OPD the next day (July 2) so that a senior doctor can see the case. However, the patient was not brought to the hospital. His wounds dressing was done probably by a quack or an inexperienced doctor because of which infection spread to his body and damaged a kidney. The patient was brought to the hospital on July 7 when his condition had deteriorated. We cleaned the wounds, started intravenous antibiotics and sent blood sample for investigation. Since a surgery followed by dialysis was required and dialysis facility is not available in our hospital, we referred the patient to RML hospital in an ambulance” said Dr Sinha.
The family alleged that the local police was informed about the crime and Lakhan’s injuries by the hospital authorities. They alleged that a sub-inspector reached the hospital, enquired about the incident but did not register a case.
On allegations of police inaction, deputy commissioner of police (north) Monika Bhardwaj said, “We suspended the sub-inspector after the allegations were found true.”
