The police have registered a suo motu case against MP for Uttara Kannada Ananthkumar Hegde and his aide for allegedly assaulting doctors at a private hospital in Sirsi on January 2.
The registering of the case by Sirsi New Market police on Thursday night follows a direction from Home Minister G. Parameshwara to the Director-General of Police in the wake of pressure from doctors from across the State for taking action against the MP, sources said.
The doctors who bore the brunt of the MP’s anger on the night of January 2 did not file a police complaint after Mr. Hegde apologised to them the next day. After this, the management of TSS Hospital too did not pursue the case. Indian Medical Association (IMA) office-bearers from various districts and from the Karnataka State unit had condemned the incident and sought action against the MP. The IMA has decided to launch Statewide protests on Saturday.
Deputy Superintendent of Police, Sirsi, Nagesh Shetty told The Hindu that a case had been registered against Mr. Hegde and his aide Krishna Esale under Sections 323, 341, 504, 34 of IPC and Section 4 of Karnataka Prohibition of Violence Against Medicare Service Personnel and Damage to Property in Medicare Service Institutions Act, 2009.
IMA State president Rajashekhar Bellary told The Hindu over telephone that IMA office-bearers would stage protest and submit memorandum to government authorities in all districts, seeking action against the MP and steps to prevent of recurrence of such incidents.
