In possibly the biggest brawl at MGM Medical College and Hospital in recent times, a junior doctor was arrested on Sunday after he along with 40 students and interns assaulted two police officers and held them hostage for one-and- a-half hours.
Ulidih OC Chandrashekhar Kumar and SI Pankaj Singh were bleeding profusely from their faces and noses when they were rescued by a team led by city SP Prabhat Kumar around 3am. Kumar said they had to resort to a mild lathi-charge to rescue the two officers.
Patamda DSP Vijay Mahto said when the reinforcement team reached the college, all the students, barring three, fled the spot.
“While two were freed after questioning, Rishabh Kumar (32), who was leading the students in assaulting the cops, was arrested at 9am,” he added.
Principal A. Akhauri has instituted a probe committee comprising wardens and heads of various departments to find out what led to a clash between the students and police.
Sources said the brawl started during a vehicle checking drive in front of Ulidih thana on Dimna Road in Mango around 1am.
Mahto said a police team led by Chandrasekhar Kumar was checking vehicles in view of the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. “During the drive, a car (Maruti Alto) coming from Sakchi was asked to stop. But instead of slowing down, the vehicle fled and drove straight to the college, 3km away. Ulidih OC and SI Pankaj Singh chased the vehicle and reached the institute,” Mahto said.
“On reaching, my officers asked the occupants, which included Rishab, to get out of the car and open the boot. But they refused and instead managed around 40 hostel residents to gather there. Then they took the two officers to a room and assaulted them,” the DSP said.
Sources said before taking the officers to a hostel room, the students locked the entrance and switched off the campus lights. Reinforcements arrived only after the cops called up the city SP.
Chief warden R.K. Mandhan said, “The interns might have missed the check point and drove through it. We will probe everything on Monday.”
The junior doctors’ association has given a strike call at the hospital on Monday in protest against the alleged high-handedness of police.
