Protest as patient dies after ambulance was stopped for minister's convoy to pass

• A critically ill patient in India's Assam state died after his ambulance was stopped while police cleared the road for Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma's convoy.

• Four police officers involved in the stoppage have been suspended and are under investigation for alleged negligence.

• The patient's family said his underlying illness was critical, while the government ordered officials to stop blocking ambulances for VIP convoys.

A critically ill patient in India has died a day after police stopped his ambulance to let the convoy of Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma pass through the city of Silchar.

The patient, 42-year-old Rasaraj Chakraborty, was being moved from his home district of Sribhumi to Silchar Medical College and Hospital for urgent treatment after his liver condition took a turn for the worse. 

Along the way, his ambulance was pulled over at the Ramnagar ISBT junction while officers cleared the road for Sarma's convoy. According to his family, the hold-up lasted close to half an hour.

A video of the ambulance sitting still as the convoy rolled by spread quickly online, sparking anger across the state. Chakraborty died at the hospital early the next morning.

In the aftermath, four officers who had been on duty during the stoppage were suspended and are now under investigation for negligence.

Hospital officials and Chakraborty's family have both said his condition was already critical before the ambulance was stopped, and that the delay didn't cause his death. Sarma took the same position, attributing the death to Chakraborty's underlying liver illness rather than the stoppage, while still criticising the broader practice of halting ambulances for VIP convoys. 

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He said he did not believe the stoppage caused the death, but that he strongly opposed the culture of holding up emergency vehicles for officials' movements.

In response to the public outcry, Assam's government has instructed police and district officials statewide to stop blocking ambulances during VIP travel. Sarma's office has also ordered that his own convoy be paused whenever an emergency vehicle needs to pass, and that the number of vehicles in his convoy be kept to the minimum required for security.

The case has reopened a long-running debate in India over how much disruption VIP convoys should be allowed to cause ordinary citizens, particularly during medical emergencies.