BHUBANESWAR: Tension prevailed at the Capital Hospital for the second consecutive day on Tuesday after the security staff staged dharna alleging they were beaten up by members of an auto association and others over the death of a toddler at the facility the previous day.
Locking the main gate of the hospital for hours, over 200 security guards resorted to a sit-in protest near the entrance seeking adequate protection from the mob. Patient service was partially affected as doctors were reportedly restricted from entering the hospital from the main gate.
The protesters, however, said out of the seven gates, they had closed only one as part of the agitation, while the others remained open. “Around 40 to 50 security guards were attacked by the angry crowd prompting many of us including female guards to hide,” claimed one of the agitating security staff. He informed that one of the staff sustained injuries in the incident.
The protesters further claimed that a social media influencer also misbehaved with them during the incident, and sought his immediate arrest.
Efforts to elicit response from the hospital authorities on the issue proved futile.