By  Mayukh Goswami

Mangaldai  : Raising the question of ensuring safety and security of on duty doctors and hospital staff during night ours yer again, unidentified miscreants on Saturday night physically attacked doctor and staff at Mangaldai Civil Hospital besides damaging public property and vandalising hospital equipments and papers. According to hospital staff on duty, at around 10 pm, a group of around fifteen youths accompanied a patient namely Subrata Devnath (26), injured on his legs in a byke accident, when the hospital authority was preparing for shifting the patient to GMCH after providing preliminary treatment, the youths accompanying the patient engaged with verbal altercation with the on the staff and home guard jawans alleging delay in the process . A section of them in intoxicated state then shouted at the doctor and staff with slang words and started vandalzing table, chair and other medical equipments of the doctor on duty, broke the glasses of the entrance followed by manhandle of the doctor on duty.

When the staff and home guard jawan on duty came for rescue of the medical officer, they were also assaulted. One fourth grade staff Mukut Swarnakar sustained injury. After almost half an hour when police arrived all managed to flee except one who got injured in hot chase of police. The youth identified himself as Kusum Deka (35),of village No 1,Bezpara under Mangaldai police station. However he expressed his ignorance and motive of the youths whom he had accompanied stating that the they had come to attend a marriage as the accomplice of the bridegroom from Guwahati. Meanwhile talking to the media the staff of the hospital and the surrounding people present have alleged that had the police  from Mangaldai Sadar Police Station hardly at a distance of few hundred meters arrived on time all the miscreants could have been nabbed red handed. Medical Officer Dr Jayanta Deka also expressed serious concern over such type threats which is on the rise in recent times. Meanwhile talking to this reporter Amrit Bhuyan, Superintendent of Police, Darrang ruled out lapses on the part of police. He asserted that police reached within ten minutes of receiving the information. ‘Police reached there within ten minutes of receiving the information. One miscreant has been nabbed and others too have been identified. At present they are absconding but they will be booked soon. ” SP Bhuyan maintained.