Doctors Association Kashmir (DAK) president Dr Nissar ul Hassan on Thursday expressed shock over the death of a man after the ambulance he was being transported in was stopped by traffic policemen on Tuesday.
"The attitude of police towards patients is brutal and barbaric. This is unacceptable and intolerable. Those who claim to protect and safeguard lives of people are actually killers and murderers," alleged Hassan.
The victim's family alleged that on December 10, Abdul Rehman Dar, a resident of Yansoo Handwara, died on the way to hospital when a mobile magistrate stopped the ambulance for half an hour. Ambulance driver Nazir Ahmad was stopped at Seelu Sopore, 55 km north of Srinagar.
Later, chief minister Omar Abdullah asked the administration to look into the matter.
"The people responsible for this heinous crime should be arrested immediately and booked for murder," said the DAK president.
Meanwhile, mobile magistrate Manzoor Ahmad Khan refuted the allegations of the victim's family, saying, "The ambulance, which was halted for five minutes, was ferrying no patient. It was only carrying a few passengers, including a woman."
He claimed the driver ambulance was stopped by his team after he "created nuisance by using a siren continuously, in spite of directions to stop using it".
{{/usCountry}}He claimed the driver ambulance was stopped by his team after he "created nuisance by using a siren continuously, in spite of directions to stop using it".
{{/usCountry}}The magistrate clarified that checking at Seelu was not conducted by traffic police, but by his team. "The traffic department has been dragged into this issue unnecessarily. I was conducting the checking at Seelu," he said.