Police picket outside the hospital in Gajole on Thursday. Picture by Surajit Roy

Malda, Nov. 20: Three persons have been arrested and eight others detained on the charges of ransacking Gajole Rural Hospital and attacking the doctors’ and nurses quarters yesterday.

Police said the three arrested persons — Sanjay, Ratan and Sujit Saha — had led the protesters in the incident. All of them are residents of Sahapara in Gajole.

The protesters, who went berserk after a newborn died in the hospital, had thrown stones at the police, injuring seven of them who had to be hospitalised. An ambulance and the car of the block medical officer Brindaban Roy were also damaged.

Most of the men in Sahapara fled the area after the police conducted raids since last night.

Today, the chief medical officer of health of the district, Srikanta Roy, visited the hospital and talked to the officials there. Yesterday’s incident had created panic among the doctors, nurses and other employees, he said. “I have reported the incident to the district magistrate and the superintendent of police. I believe that the whole incident was pre-planned.”

The president and the secretary of the Association of Health Services Doctors, Malda branch, Rudrendu Chatterjee and Samar Das, respectively visited the hospital.

“The attack was pre-planned. We demand permanent police picket on the hospital premises and exemplary punishment for those who had indulged in the hooliganism,” Chatterjee said.

The association leaders also met Sonaram Biswas and his wife Bali who lost their newborn. “We talked to them. Even they were surprised over the way the hospital was attacked,” Chatterjee said.

According to the additional superintendent of police, Sujit Sarkar, the situation, though tense, was under control. “Patrolling has been continuing,” he said.

Bali had delivered a girl around 2pm yesterday. The baby died within an hour. As the news spread, residents raided the hospital. Sonaram, had alleged that the newborn had died because of the doctors’ “negligence”. The doctors, however, claimed that the baby was premature and had hardly any chance of survival.