Employees of Guru Govind Singh Hospital in Patna City protest against deputy superintendent Dr Vijay Kumar Sinha (seated) on Thursday. Picture by Sachin

Patna, Jan. 19: Over 50 employees of Guru Govind Singh Hospital in Patna City roughed up and held hostage its deputy superintendent for several hours today, sparking panic and confusion among patients, many of whom had to leave the health hub.

Accusing the deputy superintendent, Dr Vijay Kumar Sinha, of high-handedness, corruption and misbehaviour with hospital staffers, the employees locked the 55-year-old official in his chamber for over three hours and released him only after police intervention.

Sinha has been officiating as the administrative chief of the hospital, which has been without a superintendent for about four months.

According to sources, the ruckus began around 12.30pm when employees stopped work as news spread that Sinha had written a letter to the state health department recommending transfer of 24 employees on the ground that they “were not performing their duties rightfully and were not required at the hospital”.

The stop-work severely inconvenienced the patients and their attendants at the 100-bed sub-divisional hospital. Many of them left.

Employees, consisting of nurses, group III and IV employees, led by local ward councillor Balram Chaudhary, alleged that Sinha was deliberately obstructing their payment for the past six months.

Chaudhary, who represents ward number 7 of Patna Municipal Corporation, said he had reached the hospital when “exploited staffers called for help”.

“Sinha has been exploiting the employees by obstructing their salaries for months without any valid reason. As a people’s representative, I only came here to help the tormented employees,” he said.

Police said no FIR had been lodged, as Sinha did not furnish a formal complaint. “When we reached the spot we were told the deputy superintendent was locked in his cabin. We got him released. However, no case has been lodged yet,” said Murli Manohar Majhi, the station house officer of Khajekala police station.

Health department principal secretary Amarjeet Sinha said he had asked Patna district magistrate Sanjay Kumar Singh to look into the matter.

In spite of repeated attempts, deputy superintendent Sinha could not be reached for comment.