Panic grips patients, staff as violence erupts in hospital

A group of armed assailants stormed the emergency ward of the Kapurthala Civil Hospital on Saturday evening and attacked on a young man. The incident left patients and healthcare staff in a state of panic, forcing medical personnel to hide themselves behind closed doors to save their lives. This is the second incident in the emergency in past two days.

According to police sources, the incident was an extension of an altercation that began earlier in the evening near a social media influencer’s office located on Mall Road. The confrontation, reportedly triggered by a parking dispute, left one individual injured. He was rushed to the Civil Hospital.

Sometime later, a group of weapon-wielding men barged into the emergency ward and assaulted another youth on the premises.

Injured Honey, undergoing treatment at the Civil Hospital, said he was at his office in Mall Road, when the parking dispute began. Someone crashed into a standing bike outside the office and fell down. Later, the biker owner and the accident victim picked up a quarrel, abusing each other. The dispute escalated and the feuding parties came to his office and beat and injured him without any reason, following which he was taken to the hospital. One of the injured in the case later attacked the other party by barging into the Civil Hospital.

Dr Siddharth Bindra, posted at emergency department, Civil Hospital, said following fight between the two parties on Mall Road, both parties rushed to the emergency ward. But a mob soon reached the ward, brandishing sharp weapons and began fighting, vandalising the hospital. He informed police after which the feud was settled and fighting factions pacified. Teams from City Police Station and PCR, led by incharge Charanjit Singh Khera, arrived at the hospital.

Kapurthala SSP Gaurav Toora confirmed that two suspects have been taken into custody. “We are pursuing all leads and strict action will be taken against those involved. No one is above the law, especially when the sanctity of a hospital is compromised,” said the SSP.

This incident comes barely 24 hours after a similar scuffle erupted between two rival groups inside the same emergency ward, raising serious questions about the adequacy of security measures at the hospital.