Kumar mentioned that medical treatment for prisoners was important but only genuine cases should be entertained.Commissioner of Pune Police Amitesh Kumar said on Tuesday that it was necessary to end ‘medical tourism’ by prisoners at the hospital’s prison ward and that a ‘cleaning’ of the premises is called for. Kumar was speaking at the inauguration of the Sassoon Hospital police chowki. The chowki was inaugurated in the presence of Pune Cantonment MLA Sunil Kamble, ACP Pankaj Deshmukh, Dean of Sassoon General Hospital Dr Eknath Pawar, and other senior police officials.Taking note of The Indian Express’s series ‘Diagnosing The Crisis’ on the woes faced by the hospital, Kumar said , “Today, a newspaper carried a story on how a number of prisoners escaped from here. Many prisoners are in the jail ward here, and sometimes, it is like tourism for them. Under the guise of treatment, the prisoner’s family and friends come to meet them and set up their adda. It is necessary to clean all of this out, do a surgical strike on it.”On Tuesday, The Indian Express reported how 11 prisoners had escaped while being admitted at the Sassoon Hospital from August 2010 to October 2023, including some high profile criminals.Kumar mentioned that medical treatment for prisoners was important but only genuine cases should be entertained. “I request the Dean that it is necessary to have a complete overview of the prisoners who are admitted here. Whoever is in jail should surely get good medical treatment. Their health is a primary issue. Still sometimes it feels that while in jail, the prisoners come here for medical tourism,” said the Police Commissioner.“The prisoners are admitted in the hospital for some surgeries that are not required or are not emergency treatments. For example, if cataract is not required while in jail, then they should do it when they get bail. If knee surgery is required and it is not an emergency, it should be done when they get bail,” he added. Elements consuming alcohol and ganja on the hospital premises, if any, also needed to be cleared out, he said.Kumar announced that a police inspector-level officer and staff would be appointed to the new chowki. He credited Pune Cantonment MLA Sunil Kamble for coming up with the idea of a police chowki at Sassoon Hospital. “The credit for the idea of a police chowki goes completely to honourable MLA Sunil Kamble. It is because of his idea that the chowki has come up. There was some delay but it is finally been set up and inaugurated today,” he said.Kamble said that any delay in procedures, such as post-mortems and pressure on doctors due to threats by unruly elements, should be solved by the newly set up chowki. “People complain that there is delay in postmortem, because the MLC [medico-legal case] is not filed due to local police not reaching on time. This used to cause trouble to the relatives, and bodies would not be handed over for a whole day…fights have also happened due to relatives… If an incident happens, then friends and families of the patients try to pressure the doctors and even beat them up. [I told the CP] If we have a chowki here and provide staff, then it will be helpful,” said the MLA.Soham is a Correspondent with the Indian Express in Pune. A journalism graduate, he was a fact-checker before joining the Express. Soham currently covers education and is also interested in civic issues, health, human rights, and politics. ... Read MoreClick here to join Express Pune WhatsApp channel and get a curated list of our stories© The Indian Express Pvt LtdTags:pune