The Federation of Resident Doctors’ Association (FORDA) of India, on Monday, complained that the police manhandled and thrashed several doctors who were participating in a march from the Maulana Azad Medical College (MAMC) campus to the Supreme Court. One of the doctors said that while marching police stopped them near ITO and thrashed some of their colleagues and bundled a few others in buses parked at ITO. This was not the way doctors should be treated whom the government respected and called corona warriors just a few months ago.

Sources said the cops also stopped the doctors and detained a few, who marched from Safdarjung Hospital to the union health minister’s residence in the evening. As a result, the doctors laid a siege to the Sarojini Nagar police station to demand the release of the doctors who were detained and the protests would intensify if NEET-PG counseling was not expedited soon. Healthcare institutions across the country were having an inadequate workforce due to no admission in the current academic year yet. Dr Anuj Aggarwal, general secretary of the Safdarjung RDA that peaceful protests were hindered by police and this would lead to more protests.

The Delhi Police, however, denied any charges and said that the 12 people who were detained based on protests at the ITO junction from 9.30 am, and later released. The police said that these 12 people were requested to move from the ITO junction, but they continued their protest for five to six hours in both carriageways which resulted in traffic snarls. When the police started detaining them, they became violent and attacked buses and injured around 7 policemen. The police further denied any allegation of manhandling the protesters and said that they only detained them as per law and were later released.

The police, later during the day, registered an FIR against the protesting doctors under sections of rioting, causing obstruction in the duty of police personnel, damaging public property and disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servants at IP Estate police station.

Source: ET Healthworld