Mumbai: ‘Sion Hospital hindered us for over 24 hours’

The police allege that the staff at Sion hospital did not cooperate and tried to protect Dr Rajesh Dere, professor and head of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology for more than 24 hours before the police could register an FIR. This has allegedly delayed the blood sample test of Dr Rajesh Dere and the cops have missed out on the most crucial evidence of testing the blood samples in the case. Dr Dere was arrested for running over Zubaida Shaikh, who had come to the hospital to receive treatment for an injured hand. He was produced in court on Sunday and was released on bail.

After receiving the information we rushed to Sion hospital, and informed them that we needed the CCTV footage. They kept delaying handing it over to us, forcing us to almost plead with them. Sion Hospital authorities were uncooperative, to say the least. The incident took place near gate number 7 inside of the premises of Sion hospital," said an officer privy to the events of the case, on the condition of anonymity.

Dr Rajesh Dere misled the cops during interrogation

The police are still waiting for the reports to establish whether the doctor was drunk, "As of now the doctor has been granted bail on a cash bond of R20,000. Even though we were late in collecting the samples we have to wait for the blood sample reports as a part of the procedure. We will also inquire with the staff in Sion hospital to establish whether he was drunk or not but no one could testify in the case." said a police officer.

The matter came to light when the Sion police received a call on May 24 at around 11 pm. The caller had stated that an unknown lady had fainted in the premises of the hospital and she had some visible injuries on her hand. The police rushed to the hospital and since the woman was on the ventilator they could not record her statement. The doctors had declared her dead at around 3 am.

The police have formed two teams to establish all facts as authorities at the hospital were not cooperating with the sequence of the events. Dr Rajesh Dere had also allegedly misled the cops and the authorities causing a delay in the FIR.

"We had inquired with the staff of Sion hospital and they said that the staff who were on night duty might know about the incident. We started to inquire with the passerby and established the fact that an accident had occurred at around 8.45 pm on May 24, near gate number 7 of the hospital" said a police officer.

"We had asked for access to the CCTV cameras and the authorities were not cooperating. They gave us the CCTV footage at around 4.30 pm on May 25. We then scrutinised the footage and established that Dr Rajesh Dere's Harrier car had run over Zubeida Shaikh," said the police.

"When we inquired with Dr Dere about the incident, he said that Zubeida Shaikh had fainted in front of his car." said the police.

The police registered an FIR at around 9 pm on May 25 after recording the statement of Shahnwaz Shaikh, the son of Zubeida Shaikh, and later arrested Dr Dere late at night.

The Sion police had booked Dr Dere under Sections 304 (death by negligence), 338 (causing grievous hurt), 279 (rash driving), 203 (knowingly providing false information), and 177 (knowingly furnishing false statement to a public servant) of the Indian Penal Code.

May 24
Day the incident occurred

8.45pm
Approximate time of the accident