Doctors of a health and wellness centre in Haidernagar and a sub-divisional hospital in Hussainabad went on a strike on Wednesday to protest against the assault on a doctor at the health centre by a mob after he declared brought dead a road accident victim on Tuesday.

Haidernagar and Hussainabad are located 90km and 80km, respectively, from Daltonganj.

Sources said the mob got enraged as doctor Sahil Nayan Rajnish was not present at the Haidernagar health centre when the victim, identified as Mithilesh Ram, was brought in along with two others who were injured in the same accident.

According to sources, Rajnish reached the centre 45 minutes late and upon examining Ram declared him brought dead.

This infuriated the mob that not only beat up the doctor but also vandalised his chamber at the health centre, sources said, adding that the doctor has sustained severe head injuries following the attack that took place in the presence of police.

Rajnish is undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Ranchi.

Hussainabad sub-divisional police officer (SDPO) Vijay Kumar said: “We have reports that Dr Rajnish was not present/available at centre when the road accident victims were brought in. This made the group of people furious as they thought the doctor’s absence proved fatal for Ram, a resident of Patarya village in Haidenagar.”

On whether cops were present at the centre when the doctor was assaulted, the SDPO said: “There was one havildar and four jawans there. It will be probed why the cops did not act promptly.”

Palamau civil surgeon John F. Kennedy said Rajnish was on duty on Tuesday.

“The road accident victim was brought dead. The injured were well taken care of by the centre’s doctor and other staff. Rajnish is being treated in a Ranchi hospital where he was admitted with brain damage symptoms such as vomiting, vertigo and instability. There were cops present at this centre at the time of the incident, but did nothing to protect our doctor.”

The civil surgeon said the doctors and paramedics had struck work to demand adequate security. “This strike may spread to other health institutions in Palamau district very soon,” he said.

SDPO Kumar said no FIR had been lodged so far.

“The health and wellness centre has no CCTV camera. So police are taking the help of videos of the incident recorded by eye-witnesses,” he said.