Janata Dal (Secular) councillor Mahesh Krishna was detained and questioned by the police here on Tuesday after he staged a protest against Ramya, Mandya MP, who was visiting patients in the Mandya Institute of Medical Sciences (MIMS) hospital ward.
The Mandya East Police later released Mr. Krishna on a conditional bond.
There was commotion in the ward for a while following the protest.
Five persons were killed and 56 injured after a private bus veered off a bridge and fell into a canal, near Sathanur village, off the Mandya–Keregodu main road, on December 28. Some of the injured are undergoing treatment at the MIMS hospital.
Ms. Ramya, who was unwell for the past two days, visited the hospital on Tuesday. The media was informed about her visit.
Mr. Krishna entered the ward when Ms. Ramya was speaking to a patient. He immediately objected to Ms. Ramya’s visit “as she came three days after the accident”.
The councillor demanded compensation for the victims and expressed anger because the press was covering the MP’s visit.
Though Ms. Ramya requested the councillor not to protest and raise his voice in the ward, Mr. Krishna did not comply.
While the doctors and MIMS employees remained mute spectators, several patients and attendants objected to the councillor’s protest and told him to leave the ward. Mr. Krishna, however, ignored them.
Finally, the MP called the police, who took Mr. Krishna to the police station where he was warned “not to continue such behaviour in the future” after being released.
The councillor was not arrested as Ms. Ramya did not file a complaint, a police officer said.
Meanwhile, president of the district JD(S) unit Mahesh and a few other leaders staged a protest against Ms. Ramya outside the hospital.
