Mandi, Himachal Pradesh: Trainee doctors at Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri Medical College and Hospital in Nerchowk, Mandi district were attacked by a group of assailants in the night. The attackers arrived in two vehicles and entered the hospital premises and began to assault the doctors after being enquired about their whereabouts. In the attack one trainee doctor was injured and other doctors including female trainees, managed to escape to safety. The assailants attempted to run down the trainees with their vehicles. When the doctors gathered to confront them, the attackers fled, but one was trapped inside the premises as the gate was closed by the trainees. The security guard, assigned duty at the entrance gate, faced criticism for failing to prevent the security breach. The assailants not only assaulted one doctor but also threatened him with death. Upon learning the incident, College Principal Dr DK Verma arrived at the spot. The captured attacker was handed over to the police and a case was filed under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). The police acted swiftly and arrested all six accused in this case. The police is reviewing the CCTV footage to identify further suspects and enhance security measures.
The cause of the attack is being investigated but one trainee doctor stated that a few day ago an unidentified person was noticed moving suspiciously outside the girl’s hostel of the medical college. He said that the role of security guard was questionable as he failed to act against the accused who entered the college premises last night. There is an urgent need to strengthen security on the medical college premises to provide safe environment to the working doctors. Mandi SP Sakshi Verma stated that last night an information was received from Medical College, Nerchowk, at Balh police station that some hooligans were roaming around in two vehicles near the residential area of the college premises playing loud music. They got into an argument and scuffle with the students and security guard of the medical college. “The police swung into action and reached the spot. In this incident, a student was injured. He was given treatment in the medical college itself. A case number 158/2024 under sections 332(c), 126(2), 115(2), 352, 351(2) and 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) has been registered at Balh police station and the six accused have been arrested. They are Aman (29), Lokesh Thakur (24), Amit Sharma (34), Naveen Thakur (27), Ankush Sharma (27) and Nitesh Kumar (36). All the accused are residents of Rajgarh tehsil of Balh area in Mandi,” the SP said.