Kolkata rape-murder aftermath: 12 SSB personnel bolster security at Jammu GMCH

Jammu GMCH principal said a total of 12 armed guards have been deployed 24x7 and will work in eight-hour shifts

Amid outrage across the nation over the brutal rape and murder of a resident doctor at a Kolkata hospital, the administration on Friday deployed 12 security personnel of Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) at Jammu’s government medical college and hospital.

GMCH Jammu is among the first in the country to have armed security in the emergency wing. (HT)

GMC principal Dr Ashutosh Gupta said, “A total of 12 armed guards have been deployed 24x7. They will work in eight-hour shifts”.

“Headed by an ASI, there are three sepoys in each of the four teams. GMCH Jammu is among the first in the country to have armed security in the emergency wing for the security of medical staff,” he added.

Medical superintendent Dr Narinder Bhatial said the security personnel armed with automatic weapons shall remain deployed 24x7 at the emergency wing of the GMC Hospital for protection of doctors, paramedics and allied staff.

The GMC Hospital is a major government hospital and gets patients from all the 10 districts of Jammu region.

“The hospital would get a total of 35 SSB troopers. A meeting took place on Wednesday between the police officers and college principal and it was decided to spruce up the security grid for the protection of doctors, paramedics and allied staff,” Bhatial added.

A total 15 of the 35 troopers will be women, he said, adding that the government has also decided to strengthen the existing police force on the premises of the hospital where it has a police post besides reorganising private security staff.

On the lines of GMCH, the security will also be strengthened at the SMGS Hospital, predominantly a gynae and paediatrics hospital on Shalamar Road, he informed.

“The SMGS Hospital will have 20 SSB troopers. In both the hospitals, they are being deployed at the emergency wings where there is always a huge rush of patients and visitors,” Gupta said.

Notably, junior doctors largely handle the emergencies in hospitals.

Apart from sophisticated weapons, the security personnel are equipped with communication gadgets to relay the information in real time.

“Soon, GMCH will also activate an technology driven emergency code system that will send the message in real time to the police post on GMCH premises so as to rush security personnel in case of a contingency,” Gupta said, adding that the college administration has decided to install CCTV cameras on the premises and every floor of the four storied hospital shall have two security personnel, one from the police and one from SSB.