Five days after a group allegedly attacked staff and vandalised a private hospital in Maharashtra’s Palghar over the treatment of an injured Govinda, police on Friday arrested 14 more people, including the son of a Shiv Sena MLA, even as the Bombay High Court termed the investigation so far “ridiculous and seriously flawed”.
The High Court said the action taken by Palghar police appeared to be “merely superficial” and seemed to have been conducted in a manner that could ultimately benefit the accused. A bench of Justices A S Gadkari and Kamal Khata directed the Additional Inspector General of Police, Konkan division, to examine the investigation and submit a report on September 17 on whether the action taken by the local police was legally proper.
MLA’s son among 14 arrested
Police said the 14 people arrested on Friday included Rohit Gavit, son of Shiv Sena MLA Rajendra Gavit. The arrests took the number of people held in connection with the case to 15 after Shiv Sena Palghar city chief Rahul Gharat was arrested on September 7. Gharat was subsequently suspended from the party. Police have registered an FIR against a total of 22 people in connection with the incident. The alleged attack took place on the intervening night of September 5 and 6 at Relief Hospital in Palghar, where several Govindas injured during Dahi Handi celebrations had been admitted for treatment.
According to police, Shiv Sena workers entered the hospital while alleging that patients were being charged exorbitant fees. The group allegedly vandalised hospital property, threatened doctors, assaulted staff members and forcibly removed an injured person from the intensive care unit.
HC questions ‘lackadaisical’ investigation
The Bombay High Court expressed strong dissatisfaction with the manner in which Palghar police had handled the case, questioning various stages of the investigation, including the preparation of the panchnama, or spot inspection report, and entries made in the station case diary.
The bench described the investigation as “lackadaisical” and said the steps taken so far raised serious concerns over whether the case was being investigated in accordance with law.
The judges observed that the police action appeared superficial and seemed to have been carried out in a manner that could eventually benefit those accused in the case.
In view of its concerns, the court directed the Additional Inspector General of Police for the Konkan division to independently examine the investigation conducted by Palghar police and place a report before it on September 17.
Palghar incident raised during Thane assault case
The Palghar hospital attack came to the High Court’s attention while the bench was hearing another matter concerning alleged violence against medical personnel.
The court had taken suo motu cognisance of an assault at a civic hospital in Thane in July, in which Shiv Sena corporator Ramesh Mhatre is an accused.
During the hearing of that matter, senior counsel Ashok Mundargi brought the Palghar incident to the bench’s notice, prompting the court to scrutinise the police response.
The latest arrests came on the same day that the High Court sharply questioned the quality of the investigation. With 15 people now under arrest and 22 named in the FIR, the focus will shift to the senior police officer’s assessment of whether the investigation has been conducted properly and whether corrective steps are required.