Members of the All Assam Health and Hospital Employees’ Association demonstrate on Monday. A Telegraph picture

July 2: Assam Medical College and Hospital continues to make news for all the wrong reasons.

Members of the All Assam Health and Hospital Employees’ Association gathered in front of the administrative building today to protest the arrest of two colleagues in connection with the disappearance of a male newborn from its crib on June 27.

The protesters accused the police of making “scapegoats” out of Durlov Bhagawati and Puspa Koibartya, both grade IV employees of the hospital, and shielding the doctors who were on duty that day.

The association also accused the head of the department of obstetrics and gynaecology, Dr Hasna Hana Choudhury, of withholding facts regarding the incident and delaying investigation.

“The head of the department is trying to escape her responsibilities. The police are making the grade IV employees the scapegoats, although the doctors who were on duty should be held equally responsible,” said Jitu Barman, the general secretary of the association.

The association threatened to intensify its agitation if the police continued to harass the grade IV employees.

A source said there was “lack of discipline in the gynaecology department”.

“The head of the department functions like an autocrat and often does not follow the routine procedure followed in diagnosing a patient,” he said.

Nripen Gogoi, the superintendent of the AMCH, said the complaints are being looked into.

AMCH had constituted a four-member panel on June 29 to probe the disappearance of the baby.

Suresh Mahato, the father of the missing newborn, complained to the police that some employees of the department even assaulted him for filing an FIR and informing the media about the incident.

Mahato lodged a fresh FIR at Dibrugarh Sadar police station.