Doctor's abduction sparks protest in Patna

Activists of the National Democratic Alliance and the Indian Federal Democratic Party and doctors took to the streets in Patna on Thursday to protest against the abduction of Bharat Singh, an orthopaedic surgeon of the Patna Medical College Hospital.

The protestors staged dharnas at the busy Ashok Road. The IFDP activists also blocked Bailey Road at Punaichak and clashed with police, who threw teargas shells and used sticks to disperse the mob.

As the doctors refused to work, two patients died at the PMCH. Indian Medical Association's Bihar secretary Dr Sahajanand Prasad Singh said the hospital's emergency and outpatient departments would remain shut till Singh was released.

Later, the Bihar branch of  the Indian Medical Association (IMA), after an emergency meeting, announced closure of all government-run hospitals in Bihar in protest against Singh's abduction.

Singh was abducted on Wednesday night from Srikrishna Nagar in Patna, the town's Superintendent of Police, O N Bhaskar, said. He said that five men, in a Maruti Zen, chased the doctor's car and abducted him. They abandoned his car nearby. The superintendent said raids are being conducted at different places to have the doctor released.

The IFDP has threatened to observe a Patna bandh on February 8 if Singh is not rescued by then. Party leader and Lok Sabha member Pappu Yadav, who is in jail, said the party will call for a statewide bandh on February 9 to press for the release.

The Bharatiya Janata Party criticised the government for its failure to check crimes and called for Chief Minister Rabri Devi's resignation.

"The increasing cases of abduction and police brutality have proved beyond doubt that the situation in Bihar has gone beyond the control of the administration and there is no moral right for the state government to continue," said BJP state president Nandkishore Yadav.

He said his party would continue its struggle for the ouster of the corrupt and ineffective Rabri government.

Last week, the abduction of a brick kiln owner, Janaki Singh, had also sparked off protests in Saran district.

With inputs from Anand Mohan Sahay in Patna