Another UP doc assaulted

SP leader irked as medico turns his friend away

Perhaps taking a cue from a senior who kidnapped a medical officer for refusing to issue appointment letters to his favourites, another Samajwadi Party (SP) legislator allegedly assaulted and held a senior doctor hostage in Uttar Pradesh's Siddharth Nagar district.

 
The victim Dr Mahesh Prasad alleged that the SP MLA Vijay Paswan and his goons not only assaulted him but also kept him locked in a roomin his own house for several hours. “I was rescued only after other doctors arrived there,” he said.

According to reports, Paswan had been angry with Prasad after he refused to examine an acquaintance of the legislator.

On Friday afternoon, the MLA and his goons barged into the doctor’s house and assaulted him.

Infuriated over the assault, the doctors’ association has threatened to go on an indefinite strike if the MLA is not taken to task. “It is a serious matter and involves security of a doctor,” said Dr Nirupama Singh.

The MLA, on the other hand, alleged that Prasad indulged in private practice which is against the rules. “I caught him red- handed,” he claimed.

A few months ago, the then minister for rehabilitation and revenue Vinod Singh had abducted the chief medical officer in Gonda district after he refused to issue appointment letters to the doctors recommended by him under the NRHM scheme.

SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav has, time and again, expressed concern over behaviour of the state ministers and MLAs.