Kin of former British Columbia minister Gulzar Singh Cheema ‘denied’ ambulance

Ravi Dhaliwal
Tribune News Service
Gurdaspur, December 1

Covid-infected elder brother of former Health Minister of British Columbia province of Canada was denied an ambulance by health officials here on Monday.

When reports of the incident reached DC Mohammad Ishfaq, he held an informal probe in which officials revealed that ambulances were not available because of the “CM’s visit” to Dera Baba Nanak for the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev.

The DC has now launched a comprehensive probe to identify and nail the guilty.

Senior citizen Dilbagh Singh Lally Cheema (69) is brother of Gulzar Singh Cheema, who remained the Health Minister of British Columbia from 2001 till 2004. Lally Cheema complained of acute respiratory problem in the morning. Suspecting that he might have contracted the virus, he asked his family to shift him to Amritsar’s Fortis Hospital.

His relative, Manjit Singh Dala, got in touch with the SMO who told him to “take the patient to Civil Hospital from where he could be shifted to Amritsar”.

ADC (Development) Tejinder Pal Sandhu got in touch with the Civil Surgeon who assured him help, but nothing tangible happened.

The DC rubbished the claims of health officials and said: “We have nearly 20 ambulances in the district. One could have easily been requisitioned,” he said.

In Amritsar, he was tested and confirmed Covid-positive.

Health Minister Balbir Sidhu could not be contacted.