PM security to blame for 8-year-old’s death?

Agencies

Kanpur, 09 July 2010:  The family of a child who died in Kanpur earlier this month has blamed the Prime Minister’s security for causing delays that they believed were fatal.

Eight-year-old Aman Khan was in a car with his parents on July 3. He had serious head injuries from an accident at home. In a letter to Sonia Gandhi, Aman’s mother states that roads had been blocked for the PM’s visit to IIT. She claims the diversion turned what should have been a five-minute journey to a hospital a kilometer away into a one-hour drive.

In her letter, Aman’s mother has requested Sonia Gandhi to ensure that this does not happen again.

"They did not let us pass. Don’t know who was there, the SSP or the commissioner ....they said the PM’s security cannot be breached. I said ’My son is injured badly...he desperately needs first aid...there is excessive bleeding and he is still conscious...he needs oxygen.’ But they did not let us pass through," says Aman’s father, Tasuddan Hussain.

The Prime Minister’s security officials (SPG) has offered its condolence for Aman’s death but counters that the child had died well before the car he was traveling in was diverted.

In November last year, the family of a kidney patient from Ambala alleged that delays caused by security for the PM prevented them from reaching the emergency care section of a Chandigarh hospital being visited by the Prime Minister.  In a letter of apology, the Prime Minister had said he would prevent a repeat of the tragedy.