'Attack' on Lilavati Hospital trustee

MUMBAI: A permanent trustee of Lilavati Hospital, Prashant Mehta, was allegedly assaulted by security officers of the Bandra hospital on Thursday evening.Prashant and his brotherRajiv were leaving the hospital when the security officers allegedly stoppedthem for bringing their bodyguards along. According to Rajiv, the security staffgot into an argument with them and hit Prashant. "The officers were instructedto pick a fight with us by Chetan Mehta. While we were arguing, a lady assistantsecurity officer removed a steel knuckle duster from her purse and hit Prashanton the head. He received severe head injuries," Rajiv toldTOI.According to Prashant and Rajiv, this was the fourth assault ontheir family by Prabodh and Chetan Mehta. After hospital CEO Vijay Mehta died,his youngest brothers Prabodh and Rashmi and their sons have been at loggerheadswith Kishor and his family over control of the hospital. Chetan is Prabodh'sson.A spokesperson for the board of trustees denied that there wasany attack on Prashant. "He was slapped by the security officer as he had abusedher in public," the spokesperson said.Meanwhile, Gitanjali Dalvi,the assistant security officer, lodged an FIR against Prashant and Rajiv.According to her, the duo abused her and raised questions about her character infront of patients present near the entrance of the hospital. "Theywere having an argument with the security officers regarding a notice. Suddenly,Prashant turned towards me and started abusing me. Rajiv followed suit. Then,Prashant started moving towards me while still calling me names. I felt very badand slapped him. They would have hit me had it not been for their mother, whointervened and took both the sons away," said Gitanjali.While ascanned copy of the FIR was emailed to TOI, senior inspector Prakash George fromthe Bandra police station denied having received any complaint. "Itis an internal matter of the family and we will not interfere unless told to,"he said.