LAHORE, Sept 21: Jinnah Hospital doctors and staff observed a strike for several hours and held a demonstration to protest against the thrashing of a lady doctor at the hands of an MPA’s men here on Thursday.

The strike caused great inconvenience to patients and motorists as the staff also blocked road outside the hospital.

Officials said Allah Ditta, 25, the son of MPA Sardar Hasan Nakai’s driver, was admitted to the hospital a couple of days ago with brain hemorrhage. Doctors had reportedly told the family that the chances of his survival were bleak. He died on Thursday afternoon.

They said one Ijaz alias Jaji along with a number of his fellows attacked a lady doctor when she announced Allah Ditta’s death. They beat her severely, accusing her of negligence, sources added.

Following the incident, a number of medical students of the Allama Iqbal Medical College gathered in the hospital and joined its staff’s demonstration. They also blocked the road outside the hospital against the incident.

Police reached the spot and pacified the protesters. A senior policeman held a meeting with the hospital administration and assured them that action would be taken against the culprits. The doctors and staff called off the strike after the police assurance in the evening.

A case has been registered against Ijaz and some of his accomplices who managed to escape from the scene.

A heavy police contingent remained in and around the hospital till late at night.

The doctors said they would resume strike if the police could not arrest the accused by Friday.

This is the fourth incident of lawlessness by the ‘men in power’ in a couple of days. The husband of Shalimar Town nazim beat up a headmaster of a school in Baghbanpura, police thrashed security guards of Services hospital besides injuring three journalists at Minar-i-Pakistan.

SERVICES HOSPITAL: No case has been registered against policemen who thrashed Services Hospital security guards even after four days of the incident.

Five policemen, headed by Inspector Khurram Mansha, personal staff officer to Additional IG Azhar Hasan Nadeem, had allegedly tortured security guards Resham Khan and Hafizul Amin and ward boy Jafar for disallowing their vehicle to cross the barriers.

Though the hospital administration sent written applications to the IGP, additional IG, home and health secretaries, no action was taken against the accused.

The hospital officials said application was filed on behalf of the injured men which said the law enforcers took law into their own hands, tortured the security guards, abused senior officials and staff. They demanded stern action against the accused.

They said a medico legal certificate of Hafiz had been prepared but police were not paying any heed to the application.

Sub-Inspector Shahabuddin of Shadman police picket at Services Hospital said on Thursday that the accused officials had already been suspended. He claimed that he had not received any application for lodging FIR.

Shadman police station SHO Rizwan Saeed expressed his ignorance about the issue.

DIG (operations) Aamir Zulfikar Khan was not available for his comments.