PMCH principal arrested for assaulting junior doctor

Inspector general (CID-weaker section), Bihar, Anil Kishore Yadav has ordered arrest of Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH) principal for allegedly assaulting a junior doctor here on November 16 last year.

Patna police, which initially investigated the case after the victim filed a complaint, had found no ground to act against the principal of the premier government-owned medical college.

Yadav’s letter to  central range deputy inspector general Shalin and Patna senior superintendent of police (SSP) Manu Mahaaraj late Friday evening held the PMCH principal guilty of provoking the incident and ordered his arrest.

The case pertains to a scuffle between principal Surendra Nath Sinha and PMCH junior doctor Alok Kumar. The trouble began when Sinha saw Kumar riding a motorcycle in the ‘no vehicle zone’ of the campus. Eyewitnesses said the verbal spat between them turned ugly and Sinha slapped Kumar.

A third year post graduate student of anaesthesia department, Kumar later petitioned the Bihar Human Rights Commission (BHRC) seeking action against Sinha.

In his petition, Kumar alleged that Sinha took the helmet off his head and passed casteist remarks.

“He (Sinha) grabbed me by my neck and slapped me causing grievous injury to my eardrum. The security guards accompanying Sinha



also beat me up with batons,” Kumar said in his complaint.

Kumar also lodged another complaint to the Patna SSP, accusing the investigating officer of diluting the case against Sinha by invoking minor sections in the FIR. The case should have been registered for attempt to murder and under sections of the SC/ST atrocities Act, he said.

Yadav, who reviewed the cases lodged by Sinha and Kumar with Pirbahore police station in the state capital, observed that the principal’s complaint was promptly dealt with by police, while the one lodged by the junior doctor was dismissed with vague comments.

He also took serious view of central range DIG, Shalin’s comment that he agreed with the findings of the Patna SSP and the city SP.

Earlier on December 26, 2016, Yadav had directed the DIG to review both cases following instructions of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes and informed the weaker section. The DIG sent the progress report on February 2, that too following a reminder.

The IG (CID-weaker section) wondered why supervisory authorities and the IO did not contact independent witnesses and pursue video evidence in their investigation. In the video footage, “Kumar neither misbehaves with Sinha, nor threatens him, but punches the principal only in self-defence,” Yadav said in his order.