India
Local villagers and doctors got involved in the clash. District Magistrate and SSP had to intervene.
Updated : Apr 22, 2017, 10:41 AM IST
Law and order went for a toss in Bihar when Muzaffarpur district turned into a war field as doctors of a government hospital indulged in violent clashes with local villagers, exchanging blows, wielding sticks and hurling stones at each other, on Friday.
The clashes started on the intervening night of Thursday and Friday after the death of a patient from Sheohar in the emergency ward of Shri Krishna Medical College and Hospital (SKMCH), a premier government hospital located in Muzaffarpur, about 80 kilometres from state capital Patna.
According to sources, initially, the family members of the deceased engaged in a verbal clash with the doctors, following which the medicos physically assaulted them and damaged an ambulance on the premises.
In the morning, the deceased’s relatives returned to the hospital with local villagers and also received support from private ambulance drivers, and launched a full-scale attack on the hospital premises. The junior doctors retaliated and set afire at least four ambulances while the glasses of dozens of other ambulances and two and four-wheelers were also broken.
Eyewitnesses said both local villagers and junior doctors were armed with lathis and stones and stone pelting, assaults and confrontation continued for several hours. The national highway too was blocked by the agitators. At least 10 persons, including five medical students, were seriously injured while scores sustained minor cuts and cruises during the clashes.
The medical services at the hospital were halted for almost six hours, as the staff members and patients had locked themselves inside for their safety.
The clashes stopped only after District Magistrate Dharmendra Singh and Muzaffarpur senior superintendent of police (SSP) Vivek Kumar stepped in to check it. Police had to resort to lathi-charge to disperse the crowd, who then camped outside the hospital premises refusing to leave. Heavy deployment of cops was done on the hospital campus to avoid further clashes.
SSP Kumar told DNA, "The situation is under control now. We are going through the CCTV footage to identify the miscreants. Four persons have been arrested while some others have been taken into custody for interrogation."
Meanwhile, the doctors have proceeded on strike. The Bihar state branch of Indian Medical Association (IMA) has expressed fear for the safety of doctors. “The government has been unable to provide adequate security,” IMA-Bihar vice president Dr Ajay Kumar said.