AMARAVATI: The controversy surrounding Dr Anita Rani, the government doctor of Penumuru in Gangadhara Nellore mandal of Chittoor district has caught the attention of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy. Reacting to the accusations of Dr Anita Rani that she was being harassed, the AP CM has ordered the CB-CID of the state to go into the issue and establish the facts.

Dr Anita Rani, while making the allegations, also blamed the police for not taking cognisance of her complaint in this regard. A video of Anita Rani's accusations has gone viral in social media. Reacting to the issue, the Andhra Pradesh chief minister has directed the CB-CID for a comprehensive inquiry into it. Even the Andhra Pradesh Women's Commission has taken suo motu cognisance of Dr Anita Rani's episode to go into it. Vasireddy Padma, Chairman of state women's commission, has asked the Chittoor district administration for a detailed report on the issue.

But Dr Anita Rani's episode is not without counter-allegations. Reacting to her allegations, Chittoor District Medical Officer Dr Penchalaiah sought to turn the heat on her, claiming that she was mired in several controversies in the past and that there were many complaints against her. She boasts of a history of picking up quarrels with patients in all the places that she had worked, he alleged. He acknowleged that a few relatives of a heavily bleeding patient vented their anger at her for refusing to treat and turning him away from the hospital in such a bad condition.

Penchalaiah countered her argument, by questioning, "isn't it unfair to not treat patients coming to the hospital in such a condition?'. He said that Anita Rani had earlier worked in Kadapa, Kurnool and Anantapur districts but she could not last beyond even six months in all these places because of her behaviour. Penchalaiah alleged that she had also entered into an altercation with an official of the sub-treasury in connection with a bill payment and that she had never spent a single rupee from the funds for the development of the hospital.