A senior doctor was attacked by workers of Teok Tea Estate in Assam’s Jorhat district on Saturday and later succumbed to his injuries at the Jorhat Medical College and Hospital.
Teok Tea Estate is a tea garden under the Amalgamated Plantations Pvt. Ltd. (APPL), an enterprise carved out of erstwhile Tata Tea Ltd.
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The workers had beaten up 73-year-old resident doctor Deven Dutta for allegedly being absent from duty and blaming him for the death of a casual worker of Teok Tea Estate.
Teok Tea Estate is located under Teok Revenue circle and falls under Teok police station, about 22 kms away from Jorhat town.
A source said relatives of 33-year-old Sukra Majhi, a casual worker, who resided at No 12 line, took her to the hospital inside the estate, in critical condition at about 12 noon on Saturday.
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“But at that time, Dr Dutta was not present in the hospital and the pharmacist was also on leave. The nurse on duty pushed a saline but Majhi died which enraged the workers of the garden,” said the source.
“When Dr Dutta arrived at about 3.30 pm, he was severely beaten up and locked in a room in the hospital,” said the source.
The source further said the tea estate’s welfare officer Jiban Kurmi, who lived near the hospital, tried to rescue the doctor but he was also roughed up.
At about 5 pm police from Teok police station and CRPF personnel rescued the doctor and rushed him to JMCH here where he succumbed to his injuries.
The workers later touched the feet of the manager of the tea estate, Manoj Gogoi and said they had no hard feelings against the management of the garden but they had been angered by the absence of the doctor when he should have been on duty.
Dr Dutta had retired long back but was serving on extension at the tea estate and is considered to be the senior-most doctor under APPL.
He hailed from Jagduar, just a few kms away from Teok.
Dipankar Gogoi, Officer-in-Charge, Teok Police Station said a case has been registered in this connection.
Jorhat deputy commissioner Roshni A Korati said the doctor was rescued by the magistrate and police.
“He was immediately shifted to JMCH, but unfortunately, Deben Dutta expired while undergoing treatment,” she said.
Korati further said a magisterial inquiry has been ordered.
Additional deputy commissioner (ADC) Subhan Gowalla would conduct the enquiry and submit a report in 7 days.
“Follow-up action regarding the incident has been initiated. The situation in the garden is under control and under close watch,” she further said.