A scuffle among interns at the Malda Medical College & Hospital (MMCH) on Friday led to prolonged protests by a section of MBBS students and junior doctors in the office of the principal that lasted for nearly 20 hours till Saturday afternoon.

The protests have prompted Prathapratim Mukherjee, the principal, who was confined by the agitators for the entire period, to form an enquiry committee to probe into the allegations levelled by both sides.

A section of the interns has alleged that Nabadwip Shil, an intern, and another female intern assaulted another on-duty intern on Friday.

“This is another instance of threat culture that prevails in the state-run medical colleges of Bengal. The duo who assaulted the on-duty intern are close to the Trinamool Congress. They have been threatening other interns and students on different occasions, yet the authorities did not take any steps against them,” said Soumyadip Kanji, an aggrieved intern.

“We even have the CCTV footage where the duo can be seen assaulting the on-duty intern,” he added.

Pritha Roy, a third-year MBBS student, who joined the demonstration, spoke in similar lines.

“It seems the authorities are indirectly supporting the duo. As we voiced our protests, they threatened us. This practice cannot go on, and unless they are punished, their highhandedness will continue on the MMCH campus,” she said.

After the incident, both sides reached Mukherjee’s office. They had an altercation with each other and those standing in support of the on-duty intern, who had been allegedly assaulted, confined him, demanding immediate steps against Shil and the female intern.

Shil, one of the accused, however, brushed aside
the charges.

“I did not hit anyone. Rather, I was attacked by an intern and tried to defend myself. They also heckled me and confined me for around 16 hours in the principal’s office,”
he said.

The allegations and counter-allegations, and the protests made Mukherjee act.

He said that both sides have filed their complaints with him via e-mail.

“We have formed an enquiry committee to probe the incident. They will check the CCTV footage, gather necessary information, and submit a report to us,” the
principal said.