‘Why is police silent?’: Doctors resume strike after mob attacks Kolkata hospital, BJP calls for protest.

State BJP chief Sukanta Majumdar slammed the Kolkata Police after a mob entered the RG Kar Medical College and “thrashed doctors.” Union minister and West Bengal BJP president Sukanta Majumdar blasted the state police and Trinamool Congress government after a mob attacked and vandalised the RG Kar Medical College at midnight on August 14. Majumdar alleged that doctors inside the hospital were thrashed by a mob as the police stood by silently. Majumdar said a mob of around 2000-2500 people entered the premises and assaulted doctors. Meanwhile, nurses from the RG Kar Medical College alleged that the mob attempted to destroy evidence from the seminar hall of the college, where a junior doctor was raped and killed on August 9, a charge denied by the police. “There is no law and order in West Bengal. 2000-2500 goons barged into the medical college late at night. Doctors were beaten up and threatened, the police remained silent. If a state government is unable to maintain law and order in its capital, then it has no right to remain in power…Attempts were made to destroy evidence…I will reach the RG Kar Medical College tomorrow and protest,” the BJP leader said. While eyewitnesses claimed that the mob vandalised the part of the college where the heinous incident took place, Kolkata Police said in an official statement that the crime scene was not disturbed during the mob attack. Doctors and healthcare workers were protesting peacefully outside the hospital when a mob attacked the protestors and entered the premises, a final-year MBBS student told PTI. After the midnight attack, the Federation of Resident Doctors Association India (FORDA) announced that they would resume their strike until their demands were met. The organisation had earlier called off the doctors’ strike after assurance from the health ministry that their demands would be considered and discussed. Earlier, Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee said, “The hooliganism and vandalism at RG Kar tonight have exceeded all acceptable limits.” The TMC leader urged the Kolkata Police to arrest the vandals in the next 24 hours. On August 9, a post-graduate trainee doctor was found dead in the seminar hall of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata. The victim’s family has alleged that she was raped and murdered. This incident has triggered a nationwide protest by doctors and medical fraternities.