Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar orders probe into Sonipat infant's death

A day after the death of a newborn inside an ambulance in Haryana's Sonipat, Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Thursday ordered a probe into the incident.

Speaking to reporters, Haryana Health Minister Anil Vij said, "The Chief Minister ordered an investigation by Superintendent of Police (SP) Rohtak. I have ordered Directorate General of Health Services to file a report today after a preliminary investigation. We will take strict action in the case."

An FIR has also been registered in the case under Section 304A and 177 (Motor Vehicles Act) in a police station in Kundli.

It is alleged that an infant died inside an ambulance after it was stuck in a political rally en-route to the hospital.

According to the relatives of the infant, the ambulance was allegedly stuck in a massive traffic jam due to a cycle rally by Congress leader Ashok Tanwar. The rally, "Haryana Bachao Pariwartan Lao", was apparently led by Tanwar in Sonipat. Tanwar, however, blamed the hospital for the infant's death.

Denying that the death was due to traffic jam caused by his rally, Tanwar said, "I have a video of his father wherein he stated that the incident happened because of the hospital's negligence. He was there (hospital) for 12 hours but did not receive any medical facilities. The family was later referred to civil hospital and then to Rohtak."

Expressing his grief over the incident, Tanwar said, "We are sad that an infant died. We shouldn't do politics over it. If an FIR has to be registered, it should be against the hospital for negligence." He claimed that when the party members got to know about the ambulance being stuck in traffic, they gave way and cleared the road.

"When our people came to know that there is an ambulance stuck in traffic, they cleared the road. The government, local administration and police should take responsibility. Also, there was no nurse, doctor or proper oxygen supply given to the child," Tanwar alleged while defending himself.

On the contrary, a relative of the infant claimed that the ambulance was stuck for a long time that led delay in reaching the hospital. "We were referred to Sonipat and from there to Rohtak hospital. He (infant) died en-route due to the Congress rally because we reached hospital late by one-and-half hours. We also tried meeting the Chief Minister but were not allowed," a relative of the infant told reporters.