Doctors of the district under the leadership of district secretary of Indian Medical Association, Sushil Kumar, went on an indefinite strike from Saturday midnight after a youth brandished a gun at doctors of a private nursing home in Katras in the morning and gunshots rang out on the campus at night.

The strike was, however, called off around 11am Sunday after senior officers from Dhanbad police, led by rural superintendent of police Aman Kumar, assured action against the accused.

Sushil Kumar, who started the strike alone around midnight, was joined by other doctors, including IMA state president A.K. Singh, on Sunday morning.

They alleged negligence on the part of the police, leading to the incident.

They demanded arrest of the accused, whose gun-brandishing act was caught on the closed-circuit camera of the nursing home.

Sanjay Rai, a youth from Mansingh Kurba village of Katras arrived at Sanjeevani Nursing Home in Katras at 1pm and asked a few doctors there to visit his house to treat his ailing father Jagannath Rai.

Since the doctors were taking time, Sanjay abused them, took out a country-made pistol and pointed it at nursing home employee Nandkishore Rajwar.

The nursing home employees, patients and family members panicked seeing Sanjay’s action but he left the nursing home soon after.

Around 11pm Saturday, a gun-brandishing youth with face covered, was seen outside the clinic and he fired three gun shots.

A team from Katras police station led by officer-in-charge Vinod Oraon scanned the CCTV footages and Sanjay was seen flashing the pistol in the morning. Rajwar lodged an FIR against Sanjay at the police station.

Sanjay’s father Jagannath, however, told reporters his health is fine but last week he fell in the bushes and had hurt himself but he has recovered from the injury.

IMA secretary Sushil Kumar said: “The incident shows the sheer negligence of the police because of which doctors are compelled to work under fear and trauma.”

Dhanbad rural SP Aman Kumar said: “The accused is absconding but several teams of police are conducting raids at different places to arrest him. We are also questioning his family members.”