Raiganj, Feb. 18: Two doctors in their fifties today got into a slap-and-punch match during which one bit the other's hand in the Raiganj district hospital.

The fight, caught on CCTV camera in the hospital superintendent's room and available with Metro, broke out in the afternoon when Anupam Saha, an MD in pathology, went to speak to Anup Hazra, the hospital superintendent who is a 58-year-old general physician. According to Saha, who is in his mid-fifties, he had gone to Hazra's office to request leave for another doctor - eye specialist Kamal Sarkar, who was in the room during the scuffle.

Saha is not attached to the district hospital but is a member of the patient welfare committee there and an executive committee member of the Trinamul-dominated Progressive Doctor's Association.

Both Hazra and Saha have filed police complaints against each other.

Around 2pm, Saha walked into the office of superintendent Hazra. Already present was Sarkar and general physician R.B. Ghosh.

Saha said he went to meet Hazra to find out why Sarkar was not being granted leave to be with his daughter who is appearing for her ISC examination in Calcutta. Sarkar is on extension after retirement.

The portion of the CCTV footage with Metro shows Saha, in a white shirt, and Hazra, in a black shirt with white prints, pointing fingers at each other. Saha is seen rising from his chair and going near the superintendent, his face thrust towards Hazra. The next second, Hazra rises and slaps Saha, who returns the favour with a smack. The two portly doctors get locked in a tussle. At one point, it looks like Hazra's hand is inside Saha's mouth. Somehow they separate themselves from each other. Sarkar and Ghosh, both in the room all through, keep watching but don't move from their seats.

According to hospital sources, minutes after Saha entered the office there was a commotion inside. Hospital staff and relatives of patients said they rushed inside and found Saha and Hazra fighting and managed to separate the two. It is not clear if the two doctors fought more than once, as the video footage does not show any other people in the superintendent's room, except the four doctors.

"A youth had been murdered in our locality last night and we were waiting for the post-mortem report so that the body could be cremated. We could see through the glass pane of the door that the superintendent and another person, whom we later learnt was Anup Saha, having an argument. All of a sudden, the superintendent slapped Saha. Then the two came to blows. Saha was bleeding from the nose and Hazra had hurt his finger. I and other hospital staff rushed in and separated the two," said Debabrata Ghosh, a resident of the Shaktinagar area of the town.

Saha, who sees patients as part of his private practice, said: "Kamal Sarkar is the district president of our Progressive Doctors' Association. He had been asking for leave to be with his daughter in Calcutta during her board exams but the superintendent had refused to sanction it. We had discussed the matter with Sarkar and he requested me to make the superintendent understand his need for the leave."

Giving his version of the scuffle, the doctor said: "As soon as I wanted to know why the leave was not being sanctioned, Hazra began abusing me using filthy words. I stood up to protest and Hazra slapped me. He began hitting me and I too punched back in self-defence. I have filed a detailed complaint against the superintendent at Raiganj police station. I am taking up the matter with the association. We will not tolerate such rowdy behaviour."

Hazra got admitted to the critical care unit of the hospital minutes after the scuffle. "I was badly beaten up inside my office by Anupam Saha. I am not feeling well and I think my blood pressure has shot up," Hazra said while being taken to the CCU.

The deputy superintendent of the hospital, Gautam Das, said Hazra had been bitten by Saha.

"The superintendent was attacked by another doctor, who is not from the state health services, over granting of leave to an eye specialist. Hazra has a flesh wound in the middle finger of his left hand where Saha bit him. We have filed a complaint against Saha with the police," Das said.

Sarkar, who had witnessed the entire episode, said he had been requesting the hospital superintendent for leave for the past few weeks but turned down. "My daughter studies in Calcutta and her ISC finals start on March 1. I had applied for leave from February 23 to March 25. I have to be with her as my wife, who is a headmistress here, cannot take leave. I had submitted a letter written by our other eye specialist, Asit Biswas, that he would stand in for me in the OPD. The superintendent was not paying heed to my application. I then requested Saha to meet the superintendent and make him understand my need for leave.... But during the discussion, Hazra began abusing Saha and slapped him. A fight broke out," Sarkar said.

Amal Acharjee, the district Trinamul president and chairman of the patient welfare committee visited the hospital. "We don't expect such behaviour from doctors. I will ask the chief medical officer of health to look into the matter," Acharjee said.

Gautam Chakrabarty, the inspector in charge of Raiganj police station, said he had visited the hospital. "I went to the hospital after I heard that two doctors had come to blows. Both sides had filed complaints and we are looking into the matter," Chakrabarty said.

On June 9, 2009, Ranjan Sil Sharma, the secretary of the Siliguri unit of the Trinamul -backed Bengal Primary School Teachers' Association and a councillor of Siliguri civic body, spat betel juice on the face of the inspector of schools, Riaul Islam, in his chamber. Sil Sharma was leading a delegation that wanted changes in transfers and postings of primary school teachers.