Safdarjang Hospital chief alleges harassment, frame-up by Delhi Police

New Delhi, Sep.23 (ANI): The medical superintendent of New Delhi's Safdarjang Hospital, Dr. Jagdish Prasad, on Wednesday, accused the Delhi Police of harassment and of attempting to frame him with a case for failing to deliver on a request made by a concerned officer.

Addressing a news conference in the capital this afternoon, Dr. Prasad claimed he was approached by the station house officer (SHO) of the Sarojini Nagar Police Station, Ramesh Kakkar, in the second week of July with a request to admit someone close to Deputy Commissioner of Police, South Disitrict, H.S. Dhaliwal, to the post-graduate course in medicine of the national board of examinations.

He said that he was offered gifts to accomodate the request. On his refusal to accede to the demand, he said he was put in touch with DCP Dhaliwal via mobile phone. He repeated that he was not in a position to accomodate the request, as admissions were solely on merit. Dr. Prasad thereafter claimed that DCP Dhaliwal threatened him with dire consequences. The SHO also left his residence in a huff with the gift pack, he added.

He said that soon after, a case of cheating was filed against him at the above police station. He contacted the SHO for details, but received no response. He claimed the media, or specifically The Mail Today tabloid, had lapped up the cheating case, bismirching his name and credibility in the public domain.

Releasing a four-page letter addressed to Delhi Police Commissioner Y.S. Dadwal, Dr. Prasad said that an Additional Director-General of Health Services and a Padam Shree awardee would never compromise his integrity or self-respect in such a manner. He also said that he had spent large part of his life serving the public.

Urging the police chief to inquire into the incident on a priority basis, Dr. Prasad said specific investigations should be initiated into DCP Dhaliwal's alleged threat and the blind person who had filed the case and named a so-called non-existent relative who allegedly acted as the conduit for the transaction.

Several attempts were made to contact DCP Dhaliwal on his mobile phone for his reaction, but he did not respond. (ANI)