Bengal govt official beaten up by guards at hospital two arrested

Kolkata, Jul 27 (PTI) A West Bengal government official, in the rank of a deputy magistrate, was on Saturday allegedly assaulted by guards at a state-run hospital in Nadia district following an altercation over entering a ward of the medical establishment, police said.
    Two persons were arrested for their alleged involvement in the assault, an officer of Ranaghat Police District said.
    Authorities of the Kalyani Gandhi Memorial Hospital claimed that the official and one of his family members tried to meet a patient after visiting hours and those involved in the incident were security guards engaged by the medical establishment on a contractual basis and that none of the hospital staffers were involved in the incident.
    Deputy Magistrate and Deputy Collector of Bidhannagar subdivision in North 24 Parganas district, Sushanta Kumar Bala, claimed he and his brother Prasanta Bala were beaten up at the hospital on Saturday morning.
    "I went to the hospital with one of my brothers, Prasanta, to visit another brother, Akhil, who was being treated there. Prasanta was attacked by some staffers when he tried to enter the ward with food for the patient. Seeing that, I rushed to his aide when I also came under attack," the 54-year-old official told PTI from Ranaghat.
    The government official claimed that the accused people kept on hitting him despite him telling them about his identity.
    "They snatched away my government ID card and broke my spectacles. I was overpowered and not a single person came to our rescue. I am clueless as to why we were beaten up by these people," a shattered Bala said.
    The official got three stitches for a cut underneath his right eye and has been advised medicines for the other injuries he received on his chest.
    "It was shocking to me. I feel humiliated," Bala added.
    Talking to PTI on condition of anonymity, a senior official of the hospital denied the involvement of any of the hospital staffers in the assault.
    He claimed that the people who assaulted the official were security guards engaged by the hospital.
    "According to information received from my staff members, Bala and his brother came here after the scheduled visiting hours. The security guards are ex-servicemen who have been strictly asked not to allow any visitor beyond the visiting hours. None of the hospital staffers were involved in the incident," he said.
    Police, meanwhile, said they have collected a few video grabs of the incident from witnesses present there and started an investigation.
    "We are talking to the witnesses and trying to find out what happened at the hospital," the police officer said.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)