Discharge row of injured Govindas turn ugly as Shiv Sena workers assault Palghar hospital staff

The incident took place at around 1.15 am at Relieef Hospital in Palghar, where five Govindas injured while attempting to break a Dahi Handi organised by Shiv Sena were undergoing treatment. The police have registered a complaint against 17 people, including district chief Kundan Sankhe, city chief Rahul Gharat and Rohit Gavit, son of local MLA Rajendra Gavit

PALGHAR: A dispute over the discharge of injured Govindas and payment of their hospital bill turned violent early Saturday when Shiv Sena functionaries, including the party’s Palghar district chief and city chief, verbally abused and threatened hospital staff, slapped a receptionist and entered the restricted ICU of a private hospital.

Discharge row of injured Govindas turn ugly as Shiv Sena workers assault Palghar hospital staff

The incident comes nearly two months after a doctor was allegedly assaulted by Dombivli corporator Ramesh Mhatre on July 6.

The incident took place at around 1.15 am at Relieef Hospital in Palghar, where five Govindas injured while attempting to break a Dahi Handi organised by Shiv Sena were undergoing treatment. The police have registered a complaint against 17 people, including district chief Kundan Sankhe, city chief Rahul Gharat and Rohit Gavit, son of local MLA Rajendra Gavit.

According to the complaint and hospital staff, the trouble began after the troupe head of injured Govinda Keshav Thakur sought his discharge around midnight. The attending medical officer reportedly said Thakur was still under treatment and could be discharged only after the consultant’s consent. A bill of ₹19,866 had been raised for the treatment of five injured Govindas, of which ₹10,000 had been paid by a representative of the Dahi Handi organisers.

CCTV footage from the hospital purportedly captures the altercation, including Gharat allegedly slapping receptionist Vivek Zinga on the left side of his face.

The group, along with members of the Govinda troupe, then allegedly entered the ICU, a restricted area where three other patients were admitted. Staff nurse Manisha Shengar alleged in the police complaint that she was threatened with the removal of patients’ IV lines. Four patients were subsequently taken out of the hospital.

The injured Govindas had been admitted to Relief Hospital after the Dahi Handi event organised outside the Shiv Sena Palghar District Central Office. The human pyramid formations began after 7 pm on September 5, with Shiv Sena MLA Rajendra Gavit, Palghar Municipal Council Mayor Uttam Gharat and several party leaders attending the event organised by Sankhe and his team.

Omkar Kalwadkar, 19, a Virar resident, was admitted to the ICU at 10.15 pm with a head injury. Four other Govindas were admitted subsequently for various injuries. Thakur was suffering from a spine injury and underwent an MRI at a private radiology centre near the hospital.

Sankhe, when contacted, said the dispute arose because the hospital was allegedly refusing to discharge Govindas who had sustained only minor injuries. He said he had paid ₹10,000 before midnight to facilitate the discharge of an injured member of a Virar-based Govinda pathak. He added that a minor altercation occurred when he later visited the hospital to make inquiries after members of other troupes raised similar complaints.

The Palghar police have booked Sankhe, Gharat, Gavit, Manish Sankhe, Sairaj Patil, Rahul Sankhe, Manoj Gharat, Nilam Sankhe, Shubham Bandhiwadekar, Vrushab Vare and seven unidentified persons.

The accused have been booked under Sections 115(2) (voluntarily causing simple hurt), 351(2) (criminal intimidation), 352 (intentional insult likely to provoke a breach of peace), 329(4) (house-trespass), 189(1) and 189(2) (unlawful assembly), and 190 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. Sections 3 and 4 of the Maharashtra Medicare Service Persons and Medicare Service Institutions Act, 2010, relating to violence against healthcare personnel and medical institutions, have also been invoked.

The Indian Medical Association’s Boisar branch, represented by president Dr Milan Kamat and secretary Dr Prakash Babu, expressed concern over the incident and urged the administration to take preventive measures to ensure the safety of hospital staff and prevent such incidents from recurring.