By IANS,
New Delhi : A 30-year-old man attempted suicide by consuming some poisonous substance outside the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) to protest what he alleged police harassment and to draw the attention of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who is recuperating there from a heart surgery.
The man, identified as Amit Kumar, allegedly gulped down phenyl, a powerful disinfectant, outside the AIIMS premises late Sunday. Manmohan Singh was operated two days ago at the premier hospital and is likely to remain there for the next few days.
Kumar, a resident of Sultanpuri, had a file containing photocopies and receipts of the complaints he had made to the police and other agencies.
“I don’t want to live any more in fear. The police are running a parallel goonda raj and I want the prime minister to take care of this,” he wrote on the left side of his hand with blue ink.
The incident took place despite the heavy security in and around the AIIMS. According to eyewitnesses, no one bothered to move Kumar, who was writhing in pain and frothing at the mouth, to the hospital which was hardly a stone’s throw away.
“It is not our responsibility to take him to hospital. You can call the police control room (PCR) and they will take the man to hospital,” a policeman bluntly told some reporters. The PCR van took more than 10 minutes to arrive and Kumar was moved to the hospital.
The police have seized the bottle containing phenyl and the file he was carrying. According to sources in the hospital, Kumar is out of danger.
Before being moved to the hospital, Kumar told bystanders that his family was being “harassed by the Sultanpuri police and some property grabbers of the area”.
“When I complained to the police about the property grabbers, they got my brother arrested in a false case of abduction,” he said and alleged that the station house officer there was in cahoots with the property grabbers.
“I have met senior officers but no one listened to me. I have consumed poison in front of AIIMS to make the prime minister aware about the harassment of people by the police,” he added.
Defence Colony police station chief Om Prakash told IANS: “Kumar consumed phenyl due to some family dispute with his sister. Our initial investigations suggest that his allegations are not true.”