The family of a kidney patient today alleged that he died as their vehicle failed to reach the emergency section of PGIMER hospital here due to tight security measures for the visit of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh even as the PMO sought a report on the incident.

The family of deceased S P Verma, a resident of Ambala in Haryana, claimed that security personnel, including those from Chandigarh Police, deployed at the medical institute, did not allow their vehicle to reach the emergency and kept diverting them from one place to another for about two hours.

"When we came near the PGI, he (Verma) was alive, but his condition deteriorated as we were made to run about for two hours on the plea that the movement of other vehicles had been stopped in view of the movement of the Prime Minister's convoy," alleged a woman relative of the 40-year-old patient.

She said the patient had some kidney problem and was admitted in a private hospital here from where he was being taken to the PGIMER after he developed respiratory problems this morning.

The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said that it "is saddened at the death of a patient at the PGIMER, Chandigarh today during the visit of the Prime Minister."

"A full report has been asked for," a PMO spokesman said in a statement.

The Prime Minister was here to attend the convocation of the PGIMER.

In view of the Prime Minister's visit to the PGIMER and the Punjab University, Chandigarh Police had made tight security arrangements.

Traffic on several roads had been diverted besides sealing of the routes which the PM's convoy was to take during his day-long visit here.

No senior Chandigarh Police officer could be contacted for a comment despite repeated attempts.

A senior PGIMER officer told PTI the patient was "brought dead" to the emergency. The institute was trying to ascertain the details of the incident, he said.