CISF deployed at RG Kar hospital, resident doctors' hostel

The Union home ministry on Aug 21 wrote to the West Bengal chief secretary seeking deployment of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) at the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata, official sources said.

The directions from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) came on the order of the Supreme Court.

A CISF team, led by a DIG rank officer, Aug 21 morning surveyed the hospital complex where a 31-year-old trainee doctor was allegedly raped and murdered earlier this month.

The MHA has written to the West Bengal chief secretary so that the CISF can be deployed at the RG Kar hospital. The force will also secure the resident doctors' hostel, the sources said.

An armed team of the paramilitary force will be deployed soon, they added.

The medic's body was found in the hospital's seminar room on the morning of August 9. A civic volunteer, who was an outsider frequenting the hospital premises, was arrested the next day in connection with the case.

The incident has since triggered protests affecting medical services across the country, with hundreds of doctors on strike under different banners demanding safety of medics through a central law.

The Supreme Court on Aug 20 constituted a 10-member task force to formulate a national protocol to ensure safety and facilities for doctors. The task force will submit its interim report within three weeks and the final report within two months.

The apex court also ordered the deployment of CISF at the RG Kar hospital to provide security to the doctors.

(PTI)