The entrance to Anugrah Narayan Medical College and Hospital in Gaya closed on Thursday. Picture by Suman

A row between a deceased patient’s relatives and interns of Anugrah Narayan Medical College and Hospital inconvenienced emergency patients at the health hub on Thursday.

The hospital remained closed for the entire day, suspending fresh admissions to the emergency ward. The registration for the outpatient department for regular treatment was also not accepted. The blood bank, the pathology department and even post-mortem-related work remained out of bounds for the patients at the ANMCH.

The total shutdown was called by the interns of the medical college after relatives and attendants, accompanying a burn injury patient, attacked the interns on duty and injured at least four of them on Thursday morning. The patient who had come to the hospital with 90 per cent burns, according to the attendants, had died of negligence.

After the morning ruckus, patients undergoing treatment in the emergency ward of the medical college were shifted to the general wards.

Baby Devi (24) of Gilhi village under the jurisdiction of Atri police station in Gaya was undergoing treatment for stomach pain. She was suspected of having an enlarged appendix and was admitted to the emergency ward.

However, after the squabble that ensued in the morning, she was shifted to the general ward. Her husband, Ramjanam Paswan, said she did not get proper care from the doctors of ANMCH.

“Now, I have to take her to a private hospital. Bahut kharche ki baat hain (It is an expensive affair),” said the 30-year-old husband.

Gaya district magistrate Balamurugan D. told The Telegraph that he would try to resolve the issue by Thursday. “I will fix a meeting with the interns to address the issue,” he said.

About the incident that created the ruckus, ANMCH superintendent Sitaram Prasad said one Sumila Devi (45) of Bhualpur village under the jurisdiction of Buniyadganj police station in Gaya, was brought to the hospital around 2.30am on Friday.

“She had 90 per cent burns. The doctors on duty at the emergency ward did the dressing in the operating theatre. She, however, died around 5am. When the woman was brought, her relatives demanded an air-conditioned room for her. Since there is no separate air-conditioned room, her 30 and odd attendants started beating up the interns. They also broke the oxygen pipes and other equipment at the emergency ward,” he said.

City superintendent of police Chandan Kushwaha said the interns have found an elector’s photo identity card (EPIC) of one Damodar Singh from the emergency ward and have handed it over to the police.

“The police are investigating the case from all angles whether relatives of the woman had burnt her or not. They could do it to divert attention of the police,” said Kushwaha.