The ongoing hunger strike by two junior doctors at the North Bengal Medical College & Hospital (NBMCH) here took a turn on Tuesday as senior doctors, former students and the college staff joined the fast in support of the RG Kar incident.

The protest, which started on Sunday, escalated with the participation of senior doctors.

“The doctors and the staff members expressed solidarity with the two juniors on an indefinite hunger strike for over 55 hours now," said Koustav Chakrabortty, the president of the Resident Doctors' Association (RDA), NBMCH branch.

He said Dipanjan Bandopadhyay, a senior doctor and the head of the medicine department, joined the protest for a 24-hour hunger strike till Wednesday morning. Spandan Bhaduri, a professor of general medicine, sat on a 12-hour hunger strike on Tuesday.

Since Monday, Alok Kumar Verma, a first-year postgraduate student in psychiatry, and Souvik Banerjee, an intern at the North Bengal Dental College and Hospital, which is also on the NBMCH campus, launched an indefinite hunger strike in protest of the RG Kar rape and murder and for the slew of demands raised by junior doctors in state-run medical colleges of Bengal.

“Along with the senior doctors, Utpal Sarkar, a senior staff member of the NBMCH, and two former students, Sushree Sangita Jena and Raj Barman, also joined the hunger strike today for 12 hours,” Koustav added.

Sources said that the participation of senior medical professionals in the hunger strike is being seen as an effort to exert pressure on the state and draw the government's attention to the issues that the junior doctors have been raising for their security.

“This protest is not just an issue of medical students and junior doctors anymore. These are concerns that affect the entire medical fraternity. That is why we have joined their hunger strike to drive home the point that we stand with them and that their voices should be heard,” said a senior doctor who did not want to be named.