In a shocking incident, a doctor abandoned the body of a COVID patient on a road in Surat district of Gujarat after the family of the victim failed to pay the hospital bills.

The incident took place in Bamroli area of the district on Wednesday. Police have now arrested the accused doctor for allegedly abandoning the COVID patient’s body.

The accused doctor has been identified as Jitendra Patel, who is the owner of Priya General Hospital in Bamroli. Pandesara police said teh accused was arrested for violating COVID-19 guidelines, according to a report in Times of India.

The complaint against the doctor was filed by officials of Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC).

“The accused doctor was arrested for violation of Epidemic Diseases Act and public notification. The doctor will also face charges for mishandling the body of a COVID-infected patient. The doctor has also been booked under other relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) including negligent behaviour that may have caused COVID infection endangering lives of people,” the report quoted a police officer from Pandesara police station as saying.