Haryana BJP leader accused of stalling ambulance, causing death
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A BJP leader in Haryana has been accused of holding up an ambulance after it hit his car, causing a delay that may have led to the patient's death.
Darshan Nagpal, a BJP councilor in Fatehabad, has denied the allegations made by the patient's relatives, who have filed a complaint.
On Saturday evening, the ambulance hit Nagpal's car at a traffic intersection in Fatehabad, around 220 km from Chandigarh. Patient Naveen Soni's relatives, Sitaram Soni and Arun Soni, have said in their complaint that the BJP leader then chased the ambulance down, blocked its way and refused to let it pass for about half an hour. Nagpal got into an argument with the driver and family members and also took away the ambulance keys.
When the ambulance finally made it to the hospital, 42-year-old Naveen Soni was dead.
"Pradhan tailed our car and stopped our ambulance, demanding compensation for damages," said Sitaram Soni, the patient's older brother. "The doctor told us if only you had come 15 minutes earlier, we could have saved him," Soni said.
Nagpal claimed that after his car was hit by the ambulance, he let it drive to the hospital with the patient before speaking to the driver. "There is no question of stopping the ambulance, ask anyone present there. I believe in service how can I stop an ambulance," Pradhan said, claiming that he had been told by his driver that the "ambulance was unoccupied and the driver was drunk".
Senior police officer Jagdish Chandra confirmed that his department had received a complaint against the BJP leader. "Both sides have been called to the police station for our investigation," he said.
This is the second crime to emerge in the past two days linked to the state's ruling BJP. In another case, the state BJP chief’s son has been accused of stalking a woman, who described in a Facebook post how she was chased on the streets of Chandigarh on Friday night.
