Aug. 18: Kafi Bora and Sujata Das, junior doctors at the Gauhati Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), today received the shock of their lives when eight youths attacked their car for not observing the 12-hour Assam bandh called by the All Assam Students Union (AASU).

“Both of us were in a hurry to attend a patient in labour. I tried to convince the men on motorbikes that we were doctors and exempted from the purview of the bandh, but they simply did not listen. They broke the windows of our Maruti and would not even let us alight. We were lucky to escape with injuries but at that moment, we were not sure what the gang wanted. It could have been fatal,” a shocked Bora said.

They were in for more shocks when a police escort they spotted travelling towards them reached only after youths, who claimed to be members of the AASU, fled the scene. Police, later, towed the vehicle to the Paltan Bazar police station, where the duo lodged a complaint.

Though the two doctors escaped with minor injuries, they were too scared to leave the hospital. Superintendent of GMCH Pradeep Ojha and other colleagues dropped them home.

As news of the incident spread, enraged doctors demanded a thorough probe into the attack. General secretary of the Junior Doctors’ Association Syed Tanvir Alam condemned the incident and said that a memorandum has been submitted to deputy commissioner of Kamrup (metropolitan) A.K. Absar Hazarika demanding action against the culprits within 24 hours.

Alam said at a meeting convened immediately after the incident, it was decided that all doctors and faculty members of the GMCH would wear black badges while on duty tomorrow. Members of the Gauhati Medical College Teachers’ Association, Students’ Union and others attended the meet.

The GMCH staff expressed shock over the fact that the incident happened despite the administration claiming to have intensified security. “If this is the kind of security we get, then we can certainly do without it,” a doctor said.

The AASU has condemned the incident. A team of All Guwahati Students’ Union (AGSU) visited the hospital and promised to help identify the culprits.

AGSU leader Bipul Rabha said some rowdy elements had resorted to hooliganism to malign the image of the AASU during the bandh.

He said since the students’ organisation had exempted the medical fraternity, Press and other essential services from the purview of the bandh, the involvement of AASU members in the attack was out of question.

Paltan Bazar police have registered a case, but no arrests have been made.