Shiv Sena corporator, accomplices arrested for KDMC hospital assault on doctors

According to the police, Mhatre arrived at the hospital with his supporters and allegedly assaulted gynaecologist Dr Shrushti Bawiskar and Dr Vaibhav Salunkhe

THANE: After a prolonged protest by the doctors of Dombivli’s civic-run Shastri Nagar Hospital, the Vishnu Nagar Police on Wednesday evening arrested absconding Shiv Sena local corporator Ramesh Mhatre and his three accomplices Ramesh Pawar, Akshay Karande and Pramod Nikam who, on Monday night, had allegedly assaulted doctors and hospital staff for referring a pregnant woman’s case to Sion Hospital. Atul Zende, DCP (Zone 3), said the accused had been remanded to two days of police custody and further investigation was underway.

Shiv Sena corporator, accomplices arrested for KDMC hospital assault on doctors

A video of the assault has gone viral on social media. Mhatre, a local Shiv Sena leader with several criminal cases registered against him in Dombivli and Kalyan police stations, including a case of attempted murder, however, gave an interview to a news channel, claiming that he did not assault the female doctor and was just annoyed because she continued speaking on her phone when he came to lodge a complaint.

The incident took place on Monday, when nine-months-pregnant Priyanka Umale went to the municipal hospital for her delivery. The treating doctors informed her that her pregnancy was complicated and the newborn would require immediate admission to a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, which was fully occupied in the civic hospital. The family was therefore advised to shift the patient to Sion Hospital; however, they approached Ramesh Mhatre with a complaint.

Dr Deepa Shukla, health officer, said they had decided to resume regular services at all KDMC hospitals from Thursday. “OPD services, which were suspended in protest, will be restored, while emergency and critical healthcare services have continued uninterrupted,” she said. Dr Shukla reiterated how the assault had created panic and fear in the KDMC hospital staff. “The doctors and staffers who were assaulted are still in shock,” she said.

After facing immense flak from all quarters, deputy CM Eknath Shinde’s son and Kalyan MP Shrikant Shinde finally condemned the attack. In a post on X, he waxed eloquent about how the medical profession was “a service to humanity” and how healthcare workers worked “day and night under extremely stressful conditions to serve the public”. He said that his party would not support anyone involved in the attack, and disciplinary action would also be initiated against them if found guilty.

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray shared a video of the assault on X. Referring to Eknath Shinde as ‘Fakenath Mindhe’, the Sena (UBT)’s disparaging sobriquet for him, he wrote, “A corporator from the Fakenath mindhe gang went into a hospital and attacked doctors and nurses. All of it has been captured on CCTV. Will @CMOMaharashtra Devendra Fadnavis tolerate this goondagiri of his ally? Will he arrest the goon of mindhe gang and dismiss him from his seat of Corporator? Or does he send out a signal to not just doctors and nurses but to everyone that Maharashtra sees such lawlessness and is ok with it?”

Aaditya and the NCP (SP)’s Rohit Pawar also visited the hospital on Wednesday and met the assault victims. Aaditya demanded that Mhatre be expelled from his corporator post and party and also be barred from contesting any future elections. Rohit, on his part, said that Mhatre had a criminal background and ran a gang. “After assaulting the doctors and hospital staff, he and his supporters threatened them and their families with dire consequences,” he claimed. He also questioned why Mhatre was not arrested immediately after the FIR was registered, despite appearing openly in interviews with news channels.

Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut also slammed the Mahayuti government and the Devendra Fadnavis-led home department in particular. Calling Ramesh Mhatre a “goon”, he said, “What is the use of the home department? The women doctors and nurses—the angels in white dress who served the people during the COVID-19 pandemic—are now brutally assaulted inside a hospital by goons of the Mindhe faction. Is this what the rule of law looks like? Arrest all those responsible, handcuff them, and parade them publicly in their underwear to set an example.”