M A I N   N E W S

Inmates beat doctor to death in Bihar jail
Had refused to issue false certificates
Sanjay Singh/TNS

Patna, May 30
The lynching of a doctor on duty in the district jail premises at Gopalganj, 145 km away from here, on Sunday by a group of convicted prisoners has sent shockwaves amongst the medical fraternity across the state.

Dr Bhudeo Singh who was to retire from government service after a couple of months, was fatally assaulted by a group of jail inmates reportedly because of his refusal to issue a fake medical certificate to them.

The assailants, already serving a life term in a kidnapping-for-ransom case, reportedly wanted a certificate from Dr Singh that could have prevented them from being shifted to the central jail at Buxar.

The lower court had convicted Ranjan Yadav and six others on April, 29 this year in a kidnapping case. They were all sentenced to life term imprisonment following which the jail authorities were deciding to shift them to the high-security central jail at Buxar. After Singh reportedly refused to oblige them, they hatched a conspiracy to eliminate him. They sent an emergency call to him yesterday complaining of serious pain in the chest. As the doctor entered the ward where these convicts were lodged, they pounced upon him and thrashed him mercilessly till he fell unconscious. He was rushed to a nearby hospital from where doctors referred him to Patna Medical College Hospital but by the time he reached here, he was declared as brought dead.

At the behest of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, the home secretary Amir Subhani air dashed to Gopalganj for a spot enquiry. After his return, Subhani told newsmen that the assailants of Dr Bhudev Singh had been identified, named and an FIR registered against them with the police station concerned. The police has been instructed to conduct a probe and file a charge-sheet against the accused within a week.

Meanwhile, government doctors have decided to observe a strike on Tuesday.