Three policemen were injured and four drug stores and two cars gutted after a group of Darbhanga Medical College and Hospital (DMCH) students went on a rampage and set ablaze shops on the campus following a tiff with one of the shop owners on Friday night, police said.
“The incident reportedly took place after an argument between a drug store owner and DMCH medicos. Two-three fire tenders were rushed to put out the fire. A police contingent has been deployed on the campus. Three policemen, who rushed to the spot to quell the rioting, have been injured, one of them critically. They are undergoing treatment,” subdivisional police officer Krishnandan Prasad told reporters.
According to locals, staff of a medical shop was also allegedly attacked with scissors. While one of them sustained bruises injuries on his face, another has sustained minor burn injury.
According to Javed Khan, a drug store owner, students had come to buy items from a grocery shop adjacent to a drug store. Since the shopkeeper wasn’t there at the time, staff of the drug store asked them to wait for a while. An altercation broke out after which the medicos called up their other friends, who arrived in large numbers, carrying petrol cans.
Khan said the students set ablaze the drug store adjacent to the grocery store but soon the fire spread to other shops. A cooking gas cylinder, kept in one of the shops, also exploded.
{{/usCountry}}Khan said the students set ablaze the drug store adjacent to the grocery store but soon the fire spread to other shops. A cooking gas cylinder, kept in one of the shops, also exploded.
{{/usCountry}}Local residents also gathered on spot following the incident and stones were pelted from both sides.
Meanwhile, most drug stores in Darbhanga remained shut on Saturday after a shutdown call by secretary of Darbhanga Chemists and Druggists Association (DCDA) Jitendra Kumar Choudhary.
Darbhanga chapter of Indian Medical Association (IMA) has strongly condemned the incident.
“The attack on DMCH students and retaliatory violence has caused loss of public property on both sides, for which we all doctors express our heartfelt pain and distress. IMA demands from the government that prompt action should be taken after proper investigation of the incident,” said a statement from IMA (Darbhanga) secretary Dr Amod Kumar Jha.
DMCH principal Dr K N Mishra didn’t respond to calls.