A 55-year-old doctor was shot dead at a private nursing home in Delhi's Jaitpur last night, less than two months after the rape-murder of a 31-year-old doctor in Kolkata's RG Kar Medical College and Hospital.
According to the staff at Nima Hospital, two teenagers reached the hospital late at night. One of them asked for a change of dressing for his injured toe. The night before, the teenager was treated at the hospital. After the dressing was done, the teenagers said they wanted a prescription and went to the cabin of Dr Javed Akhtar, a practitioner of Unani Medicine.
Minutes later, nursing staff Gajala Parveen and Md Kamil heard a gunshot. They rushed to the doctor's cabin and found him bleeding from his head.
The hospital staff has told police that the suspects could be 16 or 17 years old.
Police have said it appears to be a case of targeted killing and the assailants' visit the previous night could have been for a recce.
Police are now scanning the footage of CCTV cameras inside the hospital to identify the suspects.
The incident comes less than two months after the Kolkata horror in which a doctor on night shift was raped and murdered at a state-run hospital. The Kolkata incident sparked nationwide protests by doctors demanding the safety of healthcare staff on duty.
In the aftermath of the Kolkata rape-murder and the doctors' protest, the Supreme Court has set up a National Task Force to recommend steps to ensure doctors' safety on duty.
The Delhi hospital shooting, meanwhile, has given the ruling Aam Aadmi Party fresh ammunition to target the Centre and Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena over the law and order situation in the national capital. Delhi Police reports to the Centre and not the Delhi government.
"Delhi has become crime capital - Gangsters operating with ease, extortion calls and firings and daily murders. Central Govt & @LtGovDelhi have failed in their basic work for Delhi," Delhi minister and AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj said.
The Federation of Resident Doctors Association (FORDA), which was among the key organisations that led the doctors' protests for safety on duty, questioned why doctors are becoming easy targets in hospitals.
"A doctor at NIMA hospital, #Delhi was shot dead at point blank range yesterday night. According to @DelhiPolice- prima facie it's a case of targeted killing- unprovoked & possibly planned. Dr Akhtar was a #BUMS practitioner. May his soul rest in peace.An incident like this happening at workplace of a doctor, in the capital city of #India? Isn't this a blatant disregard for #LawAndOrder in the city? Why are doctors becoming easy targets in the hospitals? Who will answer? @LtGovDelhi @CMODelhi @AtishiAAP @ArvindKejriwal," FORDA said in a post on X.
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