The emergency ward at State’s premiere hospital, the Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS), turned into a battlefield on Sunday late night as doctors and attendants of a patient exchanged blows following the patient's death, police said on Monday.

Cops from Bariatu Police Station had to rush to the spot at around 10pm and use muscle power to stop the brawl between doctors and attendants following the death of a patient in the emergency ward.

“We had to intervene to bring the situation under control. Both the parties have lodged FIRs with us and further investigation is under way,” said Anjan Kumar, a sub-inspector at the Bariatu Police Station. “In the FIRs, both the parties have accused each other of physical assault,” he added.

The relatives of the deceased woman, Anita Devi, accused the junior doctors of delaying her treatment over documentary works, which allegedly led to her death. On the other hand, the doctors have accused attendants of the patient of misbehaving with a woman junior doctor and creating ruckus at the emergency.

As per RIMS records, the patient was brought to the emergency ward of the hospital at around 12.30 in the afternoon. Both her kidneys were on the verge of failure and the doctors were preparing her for dialysis. She died at around 8.30 pm. “The woman was also a Covid suspect and her test results were awaited,” said Dr. Vivek Kumar, the president of Junior Doctors’ Association of RIMS.

While doctors have blamed the attendants of the patient for starting the fight, the attendants have mentioned in their complaint that some junior doctors locked them in a room and thrashed them, police said.

At around 11pm in the night, RIMS Director Dr. Kameshwar Prasad and Superintendent Dr. Vivek Kashyap had to visit the emergency ward and pacify the junior doctors. The doctors agreed to resume emergency services only upon the assurance of lodging a police complaint against the attendants in question.

The doctors have lodged a named FIR against one Aman Kumar, the youngest son of the deceased, and some other relatives of the patient with the local police station, while the attendants have lodged an unnamed counter FIR against the junior doctors, said police.

The Indian Medical Association (IMA) or any other doctors’ body was yet to issue any statement over the incident by the time this report was filed. A member of the IMA’s district unit, requesting anonymity, said that both the parties were at fault and the association stands against all forms of violence, be it with doctors or attendants.

“I have seen the video clips of the brawl and we cannot say that the doctors were nowhere at fault,” he said.