Ahmedabad: Two policemen will face trial for allegedly allowing a Covid-positive accused to escape from custody at Civil Hospital during the pandemic, after a city sessions court refused to discharge them from the case. The accused, Sunil Bhanderi, had left the govt facility and admitted himself to a private hospital in western Ahmedabad for treatment. He later informed the police control room about his whereabouts, saying he had shifted due to concerns over healthcare at Civil Hospital.Bhanderi was detained by a Krushnanagar police inspector on Aug 26, 2020, in connection with a rape case. Before his formal arrest, he tested positive for Covid-19 and was sent to the 1,200-bed Covid hospital on the Civil Hospital campus for treatment.Police head constable Dineshkumar Jivaji and Lok Rakshak Vanrajsinh Vinusinh were assigned to guard him outside the hospital building. Bhanderi went missing the next morning, after which an FIR was registered at Shahibaug police station against him and the two policemen. The charges included allowing a prisoner to escape, spreading a dangerous disease and violating official notifications under IPC and Epidemic Diseases Act.A metropolitan court rejected the policemen’s discharge plea in June 2025. They then moved a revision application before the sessions court, arguing that Bhanderi could not be treated as a prisoner because he had not been formally arrested. They further contended that the accused himself informed the police control room after leaving the govt hospital and disclosed that he had admitted himself to a private hospital because he feared for his life in the Civil Hospital facility.The defence also submitted that the Covid hospital had strict entry restrictions and that only medical staff were allowed inside. The policemen said they were posted outside the building and could not maintain direct surveillance over the patient. They also pointed out that departmental proceedings against them had ended in their favour and that a minor penalty imposed earlier had been withdrawn.After the hearing, additional sessions judge AM Memon rejected their plea and said, “In the present matter, both applicants, the original accused nos. 2 (Dineshkumar) and 3 (Vanrajsinh), are alleged to have negligently and carelessly performed their duties, resulting in accused no. 1, Sunil Dhirubhai Bhanderi, escaping from their custody. Whether this allegation is proved can only be determined after the prosecution presents its evidence, and it cannot be conclusively decided at the stage of a discharge application.”
