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Search Operation inside Kashmir Hospital Panics Patents, Staff

By Fayaz Wani

Srinagar, Aug 5: For the first time in the past 18 years of turmoil in Kashmir, Indian para-military personnel conducted a search operation in the summer capital's second biggest hospital, this evening. The search operation lasted for more than an hour during which all the patients and their attendants were thoroughly searched by Indian security personnel.

The search operation started at 1700 hours when a large posse of police and CRPF personnel arrived at the entrances of the SMHS hospital, the second biggest hospital in Srinagar. The security personnel closed the two main gates of the hospital and barred people from leaving or entering the hospital.

Even the casualty, which remains open for 24 hours for emergency cases, was out of bounds for the people by security personnel. Nobody was allowed entry into the hospital. Even the patients were not allowed to seek a medical-check up in the hospital during the search operation.

The Indian para-military personnel assisted by local policemen conducted thorough frisking of the wards, where patients are admitted. The patients in these wards and their attendants were thoroughly frisked and searched by the security personnel. The beds of the patients were also searched.

This caused grave inconvenience to the patients and their attendants and they were at a loss to understand what was happening. When the media tried to enter inside the hospital, they too were refused entry by the para-military.

Some patients, who had to be shifted to Srinagar's biggest hospital for specialized treatment were retained in the hospital by the hospital administration after CRPF personnel refused to allow their passage outside the hospital.

A doctor present in the hospital at the time of the search operation, speaking on condition of anonymity said that nobody was allowed to move out of the hospital for an hour. "They conducted frisking of patients and their attendants. They checked the identity cards of attendants and hospital staff", the doctor said.

A police official said, "Police had information about an injured militant being treated in the hospital, that is why the hospital was searched."

However, a top officer of para-military CRPF, M P Nathanael told Newsblaze that they received information and based on this information, the combing and search operation was conducted at two or three places in Karan Nagar.

Stating that there was no specific information, he said, "I had instructed my men to conduct operations around the hospital area and not within the hospital. I will look into it".

When told that the operation has caused lot of inconvenience to patients and their attendants, he said, "In future, we will take care".

This was the first time during the past decade that a combing operation was conducted in SMHS hospital, where hundreds of patients are attended by doctors and para-medical staff daily. The search operation caused panic among the patients, who were later comforted by doctors and staff.

Fayaz Wani reports on life in Srinagar, Kashmir.