Mumbai: Mob attacks policemen, vehicles after teenager dies in Sion hospital

The damaged police vehicle. Pics/ Pradeep Dhivar

A mob allegedly vandalised police vehicles, and attacked policemen and security personnel of a state-run agency following the death of a 17-year-old boy at the Sion Hospital in Mumbai, a police official said today.

Two police constables and three personnel of the Maharashtra State Security Corporation (MSSC), including a woman, were injured in the incident, he said. Sachin Jaiswar, a resident of the Dharavi area in Mumbai, died at the civic-run hospital located in central Mumbai, while undergoing treatment yesterday, he said.

Two days before being admitted to the hospital, he was questioned by the Dharavi police in connection with a criminal case and was later allowed to go, the official said.

While at home, the boy fell sick and was admitted in the hospital, where he died during treatment. Suspecting that his death was due to the alleged police torture in custody and negligence of doctors at the hospital, the mob of around 100 people gathered outside the hospital late last night and started pelting stones at the policemen, their vehicles, and MSSC personnel, he said.

The protesters also tried to barge into the hospital but were stopped at its gate. The mob then allegedly beat up the on-duty policemen and MSSC personnel (generally deployed at the state government offices and organisations), he said.

At least two constables and three MSSC personnel, including a woman, were injured and four police vehicles damaged in the stone-pelting, the official said. A 31-year-old police constable, Kishorekumar Kadam, sustained serious head injuries in the attack. He and the other injured personnel were undergoing treatment at a hospital.

A traffic police outpost, located near the hospital, was also allegedly vandalised by the mob, he said. Police officials rushed to the spot to pacify the mob and told members of the crowd that Jaiswar had died of suspected leptospirosis, a water-borne disease.

The police have sent the body for postmortem at the state-run J J Hospital to ascertain the exact cause of the death, the official said. The family members of the deceased have refused to claim the body and some of his relatives are still in the hospital premises, he said.

Meanwhile, the police were scanning CCTV footages to identify rioters, he said. Offences were registered against 100 unidentified people under Indian Penal Code sections pertaining to rioting, unlawful assembly, and assault or criminal force to deter a public servant from discharging his duty, among others, he said

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