Junior doctors at a state-run hospital in the capital and two health hubs in Gaya and Bhagalpur on Thursday joined the indefinite strike called by their peers at Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH).

Postgraduate doctors at Nalanda Medical College and Hospital in the capital and interns at Anugrah Narayan Medical College and Hospital, Gaya, and Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College, Bhagalpur, did not report to work. Medics at Darbhanga Medical College and Hospital had gone on strike since the interven- ing night of Wednesday and Thursday.

The doctors at PMCH have been on the strike since June 14 following a brawl with attendants of a suspected acute encephalitis syndrome patient. One of the junior doctors was beaten up by the relatives of the patient who had died the night before, while the doctors later assaulted hospital superintendent Dr O.P. Chaudhary when he intervened.

The agitating members of the Junior Doctors’ Association (JDA) have been seeking Chaudhary’s removal from the post, adequate security arrangements in the hospital and restriction on number of attendants per patient in various wards.

The agitating medics and authorities at PMCH said the deadlock was unlikely to end in coming few days.

“We met principal Dr N P Yadav but he had nothing new to tell us. He insisted that we call off the strike without making any promise to implement our demands,” PMCH JDA president Dr Rakesh Kumar said.

Principal secretary (health) Vyasji said the government has made alternative arrangements at PMCH and posted 75 additional senior doctors there.