NEW DELHI - Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh apologised on Wednesday to the widow of a man who was prevented from receiving emergency treatment because the premier was touring the hospital.

Singh wrote in a letter that he had heard desperately ill S. Verma "could not get access (to the hospital) in time because of the restrictions in place for my visit there."

"This is something I deeply regret," Singh said, adding he had ordered his security protection to be "more sensitive to the concerns of the common man" in future.

Verma, a 32-year-old with a history of kidney problems, was held up for two hours outside at the PGIMER hospital in the northern city of Chandigarh due to the prime minister's visit on Tuesday, his family said.

However police and hospital officials earlier dismissed the family's claims, saying emergency facilities were kept open and that the patient was in the final stages of a fatal disease.

Two Indian prime ministers - Indira Gandhi and her son Rajiv Gandhi - have died at the hands of assassins.