Vehicle carrying medical team to Khanauri meets with accident, six injured

Patiala: Four doctors among six medical team members headed to Khanauri where farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal is sitting on fast-unto-death, were injured when their vehicle was hit by a car on Wednesday, officials said.

The accident took place near Mavikala village.

According to the officials, the team was deputed at Kahanuri border farmer protest site for the farmer leader.

Dallewal (70) is sitting on a hunger strike at the Khanauri border point for the past one month to press the Centre to accept the agitating farmers' demands, including legal guarantee for minimum support price (MSP).

A team of doctors from 5 Rivers Heart Association'”an NGO, which has also deployed its team of doctors, have described Dallewal's condition as "critical".

Meanwhile, the government doctors team was headed to Khanauri.

A video recorded on a dashcam inside a car behind the SUV, that hit the government medical team's vehicle shows the SUV trying to overtake a truck when it hit their vehicle, coming from the opposite direction.

Senior Medical Officer from Samana Dr Sanjiv Arora, when contacted over telephone, told PTI that a team of four specialist doctors from Rajindra Hospital Patiala, one pharmacist and a driver were injured after their vehicle got hit by a SUV coming from the opposite direction.

He said they were being treated at Rajendra Hospital presently, and luckily no one has any grievous injury and are recovering well.

He further said that presently after the directions of the Supreme Court, the Punjab government and district administration, Patiala is actively monitoring the situation at Khanauri border as the hunger strike by Dallewal has entered 30th day.

Notably, Punjab government has set up a makeshift hospital nearby at the Khanauri protest site for round-the-clock monitoring of Dallewal's health and provide aid in case of any medical exigency.

The Supreme Court on Friday left it to the Punjab government officials and doctors to decide on the hospitalisation of farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal, who is on an indefinite hunger strike.

A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan said it was the responsibility of the Punjab government to look after the health of Dallewal.

It sought reports from Punjab chief secretary and health officials on the medical conditions of Dallewal by January 2 and said the state government could approach the court, if a need arose.

The bench said 70-year-old Dallewal could be moved to the makeshift hospital setup within 700 metre of the protest site at Khanauri border between Punjab and Haryana.

The bench said the authorities could continue with their efforts to persuade him to move to the hospital.

Farmers under the banner of Samyukta Kisan Morcha (non-political) and Kisan Mazdoor Morcha have been camping at Shambhu and Khanauri border points between Punjab and Haryana since February 13 after their march to Delhi was stopped by the security forces.