OPD shut as AIIMS Bathinda staff goes on strike to protest against colleague’s arrest

Medical services were hit at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Bathinda, after doctors went ahead with strike on Thursday morning to protest the arrest of a colleague. The outpatient (OPD) services will remain suspended, but patients with emergency needs will be attended to, protesting doctors said.

Senior resident at the orthopaedic department had on Wednesday been detained after an altercation with police personnel. Singh was later arrested.

Protesting doctors locked the main gate of the medical facility located on Dabwali road and demanded for the release of the doctor.

Bathinda senior superintendent of police (SSP) Gulneet Khurana, meanwhile, said the accused doctor was charged with attacking police personnel late Tuesday night when a party was on duty to investigate a case of an abandoned motorbike near Maharaja Ranjit Singh Punjab Technical University.

“The accused doctor was passing by and he stopped his car on seeing the cops. He was in an inebriated condition and attacked the police personnel without any provocation. Due action was initiated on the basis of his medical examination report and investigation,” the SSP added.

Singh had been booked under sections 353 (assault to deter public servant from discharge of his duty) and 186 (obstructing public servant in discharge of public functions) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).