GUWAHATI, June 3: Two more persons were arrested on Thursday in connection with Tuesday’s mob assault on a doctor and a nurse at Lanka in Hojai district.
Police arrested Imdadur Rahman and Nur Hussain after a search operation was launched to trace the absconding duo on Wednesday night.
With the arrests, the number of accused arrested in the case has increased to 26.
Earlier, as many as 24 accused, including a woman, were caught during the course of an overnight operation by the wee hours of Wednesday.
An infuriated mob had gone berserk to brutally assault the doctor, Seuj Kumar Senapati at the COVID Care Centre (CCC) at Udali under Lanka police station after a critically-ill COVID-19 patient died at the CCC on Tuesday afternoon.
Senapati suffered multiple injuries and had to brought to the Gauhati Medical College and Hospital here for medical tests and treatment.
The attackers also tried to strangle a nurse, Lalita Bharali, who however managed to hide in a toilet.
The barabaric attack on a frontline warrior amid COVID-19, sparked sharp reactions and state-wide condemnation.
Protests were staged by the medical fraternity across Assam, with doctors even boycotting OPD services on Wednesday.
Hospital vandalised
A similar assault on a doctor was averted at Kakajan Tea Estate in Jorhat district on Wednesday, after the relatives of a patient who died on way to Jorhat Medical College and Hospital (JMCH), created a ruckus and vandalised property at the central hospital of the tea estate.
Sources said a 50-year-old tea garden worker Raju Rabidas was brought to the hospital in a serious condition but was referred to JMCH by the doctor at the tea estate hospital.
“However, the patient, who had breathing problems, succumbed on way to JMCH. The family members returned to the garden’s hospital and created commotion, apparently looking to confront the doctor who was, as a precaution, asked to stay away from the hospital by a section of garden workers and security personnel. Subsequently, the enraged group vandalised property at the hospital,” said a source.