Burla: The 12-hour bandh call given by the Burla Nagarika Manch demanding the arrest of PG students involved in an attack on VIMSAR director Aswini Pujhari passed off peacefully Monday without any untoward incident being reported from anywhere.
All shops, business establishments, banks, government offices and educational institutes were closed in response to the bandh call. However, the patients and their relatives had a tough time reaching the premier institution.
Meanwhile the PG and MBBS students continued their cease work agitation and sat on a dharna in the hospital campus demanding the removal and arrest of the director.
The girl students also went round the city in a rally demanding their safety and arrest of the director. They alleged that the allegation made by the director against the PG students is ‘totally false and fabricated’.
In an FIR, the girl students alleged the director is provoking the public against the students.
The stand-off between the students and the director cropped up last Friday night when some PG students on duty in the casualty ward noticed the attendant of a patient recording the delay in attending to his patient. The attendant then threatened to lodge a complaint with the director. The students then assaulted the attendant.
Later, the students marched to the residence of the director and allegedly pelted stones at his house. Tension prevailed the next day as the common people after learning about the violent activities of the students took to the streets demanding the immediate arrest of the students.
Meanwhile, the CCTV footage installed in the casualty ward was found to be deleted. The director Monday went to discuss with the agitating students to find a solution but the students refused to discuss with him.
VIMSAR superintendent Dr BM Mishra said, “’Things are under control and we are hopeful of an amicable settlement to the present situation.” With three more complaints Monday, the total cases registered over the issue went up to six, leaving the police in a fix. PNN
