Alipurduar, Sept. 25: Doctors in Jalpaiguri district have decided to call off their agitation following today’s meeting with zilla parishad sabhadhipati Banamail Roy.

The protests began after an incident in Birpara State General Hospital on September 11 in which Rabin Rai, the Birpara zonal secretary of the CPM and his followers abused and allegedly assaulted two on-duty medical officers. The doctors had been demanding punishment for all the accused, especially the CPM leader.

Rai was present at today’s meeting held in Jalpaiguri town.

From tomorrow, doctors in Birpara will resume their private practice, which had remained suspended as a mark of protest.

“Apart from us, the sabhadhipati had also called the main accused, Rabin Rai, to the meeting. After discussion, the sabhadhipati himself took the responsibility of providing security to the doctors in Birpara and assured us that such an incident would not be repeated. We have expressed our annoyance and firmly told him that if anything similar happens again we will not tolerate it,” said Partho Dasgupta on behalf of the joint committee of doctors after coming out of the meeting.

The committee was formed by members of the Indian Medical Association, Jalpaiguri branch, and Association of Health Services Doctors.

“We are quite relieved that the sabhadhipati has given us such an assurance and doctors in Birpara will start their private practice from tomorrow,” Dasgupta added. “We will ask Niloy Mandal to come back and join duty at the Birpara hospital.”

Mandal, one of the two victims of the September-11 incident, has gone on an indefinite leave citing security concerns. Mandal and Ujjwal Roy, the other victim, had mentioned in the complaint lodged with Birpara police that they had been threatened by Rai and his followers.

Sources at the meeting said Rai had called the incident unfortunate and apologised for his role in it. However, when contacted, Rai refused to comment on the issue but admitted that he was present at the meeting.

A large number of people in Birpara, including tea garden labourers, depend on the state general hospital for treatment at affordable cost.