New Delhi, May 26: A man in south Delhi suffered an accidental injury to his ‘vital organ’. Under normal circumstances, the incident would have been treated as a medical emergency and left at that.
But in this case, it led to a wild goose chase by the Delhi Police and some political mudslinging.
On May 21, 40- year- old Raj Bir Ambawata — he is a resident of Jaunpur village under the Fatehpur Beri police station — was rushed to Max Hospital in south Delhi’s Saket. There, he underwent “ primary repair ( deep suturing or stitching) in the inguinoscrotal ( relating to the groin and the scrotum) region.” While Ambawata was recuperating at the hospital, the police went helter- skelter.
Someone had called up the police from a public telephone booth in Jaunpur village claiming that Ambawata was not injured in an accident. The caller alleged that Ambawata had suffered the injury during an altercation with a woman — Sangeeta ( name changed) — with whom he had misbehaved.
The police rushed to the village. But Sangeeta and her husband were not at home. They were traced later from near the village. “ After a thorough search and probe, we found all allegations were false,” said the police station in- charge.
The doctors at Max hospital said Ambawata was admitted within 30 minutes of sustaining the injury.
Dr Vikas Panwar of the department of general and minimal access surgery at the hospital said: “ It was a big injury — about 10cm long, extending from his groin to the testicles. We sutured it up and he was discharged in a day. He said he had hit a rod while trying to climb into a water tank. But it looked like an injury caused by a sharp object.” The police handled the allegations cautiously as the Ambawata family reportedly has strong political ties. The south district cops assigned an officer of the rank of assistant commissioner to look into the case. “ We have found that there was a dispute between Ambawata and Sangeeta. But that was nothing more than a landlord- tenant dispute. A medical test was conducted on her and she has signed a statement saying she doesn’t want to file a complaint,” a senior police officer said.
HGS Dhaliwal, the deputy commissioner of police, south, confirmed the police version. “ It has become clear that the allegations of misbehaviour were false,” he said.
Ramesh Ambawata, a close relative of the ‘ patient’, blamed political opponents for the “ baseless allegations”. A family member is reportedly the local councillor while another is closely related to an MLA of the Delhi assembly.
“ This has been done by some local political rivals trying to sully our name,” said Ramesh. He refused to explain how his cousin sustained the injury. “ It is a private matter — anyone can fall sick or ill and get treatment,” he said.
Ambawata couldn’t be contacted.
–Agencies