Doctors and paramedics at the state general hospital in Birpara of Alipurduar district resumed their duties at outpatient departments (OPDs) on Monday after three days during which they protested the assault on a colleague.

The decision of doctors to resume work, sources said, came after the police arrested the principal accused of the attack, and decided to depute a team of four policemen on hospital campus round the clock.

Last Thursday, a group of people who claimed to be friends and relatives of a patient — injured in a mishap — attacked Amalesh Panda, the doctor on emergency duty, alleging he had delayed examining the patient.

On Friday, doctors and others posted at the hospital held a silent march in Birpara town and met police officers, asking for security at the hospital premises. They also submitted CCTV footage of the emergency ward to the police.

In Alipurduar, members of the Doctors’ Forum gave a memo to the district magistrate, requesting him to look into the issue. “A case was filed and the prime accused of the attack has been arrested. We have posted a four-member police team on hospital campus, and soon the number of policemen will increased,” said SP Amitabha Maity.

A doctor posted at the hospital said: “All we want is adequate security in our place of work, especially now (amid the pandemic) when all those associated with healthcare are putting in their best efforts.”

Nurse attacked

In Jalpaiguri, a nurse at the super-specialty hospital was attacked on Sunday by two youths for her alleged delay in administering an injection to one of them. Kotwali police arrested the two youths, Pralay Das and Biswajit Das, from Mohitnagar on the town’s outskirts. On Monday, both were produced at a local court and sent them to judicial custody for three days.

Additional reporting by our Jalpaiguri correspondent