Interns at Rajshahi Medical College Hospital (RMCH) have yet again called a strike demanding the arrest of those involved atacking the institution and doctors over the death of a Rajshahi University student.
Imran Hossain, the president of the RMCH interns’ council, announced a 72-hour strike pressing a three-point demand on Saturday.
The interns also demanded that authorities identify the cause of the death of Rajshahi University (RU) student KGM Shahriar and ensure the safety of the doctors at the hospital.
The interns threatened fresh protest programmes if the demands were not met within three days.
Shahriar, a fourth-year student of marketing at RU, was injured after falling from the second-floor balcony of Shaheed Habibur Rahman Hall on Wednesday. He was subsequently rushed to RMCH where doctors declared him dead.
Agitated university students then vandalised the hospital alleging negligence on the authorities’ part and clashed with RMCH students at one point.
At midnight, the interns called an indefinite strike and left the hospital all at once.
The hospital authorities formed a six-member committee to probe the allegations of negligence in the treatment of Shahriar in a late-night meeting. The hospital’s acting administrative officer Anwar Hossain lodged a case against more than three hundred RU students, but it was not registered.
Following a meeting with the hospital administration on Thursday, the interns pressed a 24-hour ultimatum for the arrest of those involved in the agitation and returned to work on Friday.
The interns called a strike again as no arrest was made.