3 journalists in MP booked for reporting on poor health infrastructure

They had reported about a family taking an elderly man to hospital on a handcart in the absence of an ambulance. Pic/Twitter

Police in Bhind have registered a case of forgery against three journalists over news of a family taking an elderly man to hospital on a handcart in the absence of an ambulance.

They filed an FIR on August 18 on a complaint of health department's Medical Officer Rajiv Kaurav, Daboh police station's head constable Kamlesh Kumar said on Monday. Journalists Kunjbihari Kaurav, Anil Sharma and N K Bhatele have also been booked under IPC Section 505 (public mischief), he said.

Kaurav alleged the journalists published and aired on August 15 that Gaya Prasad's family had to take him on a handcart, as an ambulance was not provided to them, and that the 76-year-old did not receive the benefits of government schemes.

Thereafter, the district administration conducted an inquiry, a report of which stated that Prasad's son Puran Singh said they didn't seek an ambulance, as per the FIR. They said the family had taken him to a private hospital, and that he was getting the benefits of government schemes.

Sharma alleged that the district administration pressured Prasad's family by threatening to stop their scheme benefits. The FIR was filed on the false ground, he said. Ruling BJP's Ramesh Dubey also condemned the FIR.

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