Amid medics' ongoing agitation for improved safety measures for healthcare workers, a doctor in Delhi was reportedly shot dead at a private nursing home in the early hours of Thursday by two teenagers who entered the facility on pretext of getting a toe injury treated.
The incident took place at Nima Hospital in Delhi's Jaitpur at around 1:30 am on Thursday, October 3, police said, adding that it appears to be a case of targeted killing as the suspects, who lived in the same locality, had visited the facility for treatment on October 1 as well. Police suspects the previous visit was for a recce.
'Finally...': Accused's Social Media Post
The now-arrested main accused, aged around 16 years, after allegedly committing the crime uploaded a post on a social media platform with his photograph and a caption: "Kar diya 2024 mein murder" (Finally committed murder in 2024).
Sources cited in a news agency PTI report said the police have also questioned a female nurse of the nursing home and her husband in connection with the case.
Joint Commissioner of Police (Southern Range) SK Jain said one of the two accused was apprehended from Hapur but the motive behind the crime is yet to be ascertained. Jain said teams are making efforts to nab the other accused, who also appears to be a minor.
The apprehended juvenile is the one who allegedly opened fire at the doctor. His act was also captured in a CCTV camera installed in the nursing home, Jain added.
What Happened That Night
The two teenagers reached the hospital late at night and one of them asked for a change of dressing for his injured toe, an NDTV report quoted staff at Nima Hospital as saying.
After the dressing was done, the teenagers said they wanted a prescription and went to the cabin of the victim - Dr Javed Akhtar, a practitioner of Unani Medicine - and shot him.
Nursing staff Gajala Parveen and Md Kamil heard the gunshot and rushed to the doctor's cabin, where they found him bleeding from his head.
A team of Delhi Police later reached and started scanning the CCTV cameras in the areas to get details about the accused. Delhi Police's Forensics Unit also reached the spot to recover all the technical evidence from the crime scene.
"At around 1 am, two teenage boys came to the hospital for treatment. They then entered the doctor's cabin and shot him in the head. Dr Javed was on night duty from 8 pm. He was working in the hospital for two years," an indiatoday.in report quoted one of the hospital's staff as saying.
Sources cited in reports said the police have also questioned a female nurse of the nursing home and her husband in connection with the case.
Nationwide Stir Over Medics' Safety
The incident comes less than two months after the rape and murder of trainee doctor at the RG Kar Medical College & Hospital in West Bengal's Kolkata, a case that triggered nationwide uproar and protests by medics demanding justice for the victim and improved safety measures for healthcare professionals.
The case pertains to a trainee doctor of the RG Kar Medical College & Hospital of West Bengal's Kolkata whose body with severe injury marks was found inside the seminar hall of the facility's chest department in the morning of August 9.
Sanjay Roy, a civic volunteer, was on August 10 arrested on allegations of raping and killing the trainee doctor A CCTV footage and a Bluetooth device found near the medic's body resulted in the arrest of Roy, who was allegedly seen entering the seminar hall of the college where the body was found at around 4 am.
The Bengal Junior Doctors' Front have been protesting with their demands of installation of CCTV cameras on hospital premises, round-the-clock security for healthcare workers, and stricter protocols to prevent similar incidents of violence against medical professionals.
The doctors' strike that started with medics of Bengal was joined by the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) and other big medical facilities across the country.
Although the doctors of Bengal had partially resumed services after 42 days of the strike, they went back to 'cease-work' on Tuesday, October 1, alleging that key demands such as enhanced safety measures for medical staff were not implemented.
Amid the doctors' protest, the Supreme Court had set up a National Task Force to recommend steps to ensure doctors' safety on duty.
