BALLIA: Three government medical personnel, including two doctors, and their driver were injured after their car was attacked by a group of people when they had gone to a village here to give medicines to a COVID-19 patient and check on his home isolation, police said on Monday.
Ballia District Magistrate Aditi Singh said the administration is mulling action under the stringent National Security Act (NSA).
The incident took place at Paswan Chowk village on Sunday.
Terming the attack an act of "madness", SHO of Bairia police station Rajiv Mishra said the health department team after reaching there told villagers that it has come for COVID testing, which triggered a dispute and led to the attack.
According to a complaint lodged at the Bairia police station, the medical team's vehicle was surrounded by about 60 people and it was attacked.
"The team had gone to the village to give Ghanshyam, a COVID-19 patient, his medicines and check on his home isolation," Additional Superintendent of Police Sanjay Yadav said.
In his complaint, medical officer Neeraj Kumar Singh, who was injured in the incident, said "around 60 persons, including women and children, surrounded our government vehicle, and attacked the team".
"Members of the team somehow managed to escape from there. Dr Neeraj Kumar Singh, Dr Amit Kumar Gautam, lab assistant Upendra Prasad and driver Lal Bahadur Yadav were injured," Yadav said, adding that two men -- Jitendra and Upendra -- have been arrested in this case.
Dr Neeraj Kumar told reporters that when the health team reached there, the villagers said none of them is infected with COVID-19.
The villagers claimed that the health officials in the garb of checking COVID-19 were indulging in distributing government money among themselves, he added.
The SHO of Bairia police station said Upendra was arrested near Suremanpur station, when he was trying to board the Tapti Ganga Express.
Dr Neeraj Kumar has been referred to Varanasi for treatment, and doctors and staff at a primary health centre have abstained from work in protest against the attack.