Protesting ex-servicemen block traffic at PAP Chowk in Jalandhar

Jalandhar, July 23

Ex-servicemen under the banner of the Saabka Sainik Sangharsh Committee (SSSC) on Saturday jammed PAP Chowk here, blocking all traffic movement between Jalandhar, Ludhiana and Amritsar cities at the T-junction.

They were demanding police action against a private hospital at Rama Mandi over a July 5 feud over parking there. The ex-servicemen accused the police of inaction against hospital staffers who attacked them.

SSSC president Surjit Singh said he had gone to the hospital recently as Balwant Singh, an ex-servicemen had passed away following an accident. “As a committee, we reach out to all the families on such occasions. Parking my motorcycle at the hospital, I went to fetch the police report. When I came back, I saw that the tyres of my bike had been flattened. When I talked to the man in the parking lot, he started arguing with me. Then he and his men attacked me with rods, pipes, vipers, dustbins, etc,” he alleged. The video of the fight also went viral. Surjit Singh said he went to the police station to lodge a complaint but to no avail. No FIR has been lodged on our complaint till date, he said, adding that he and his fellow ex-servicemen had gathered against the one-sided action.

During dharna, about 100 ex-servicemen who had gathered at the site appealed to all ECHS card holders not to take treatment at the empanelled hospital concerned owing to the shoddy treatment they had faced. Farmers, too, joined them to make the protest bigger.

The dharna which started at 11:30 am concluded past 5 pm after senior cops reached there and assured them of action. DCP Naresh Dogra handed over a DDR copy to them. SHO Navdeep Singh said, “An inquiry into the incident is already on at the ACP level. A case will be registered as per the inquiry report. ”

Meanwhile, Dr BS Johal, owner of the hospital, said, “My staff did not indulge in any violence but only attempted to oust the miscreants from the hospital premises after they created ruckus around the emergency. They even attempted to block the emergency for which we had to call the police. My team of 12 guards only got them move out for the safety of the patients and other staff. We will fight it out legally.