LAHORE, Feb 14: YDA activists locked a senior doctor in an operation theatre at the Services Hospital for conducting surgery on a woman and misbehaved with another senior doctor who gave her anaesthesia, it’s learnt.

A source said the incident took place when a professor of gynaecology was performing a caesarean at the emergency operation theatre at the Services Hospital.

Young doctors visited the place and ‘admonished’ the senior surgeon for not ‘following’ YDA’s protest schedule. The Services Hospital is said to be the YDA stronghold.

The YDA had issued its ‘schedule and guidelines’ for all major and minor surgeries at the institute amid the ongoing agitation, directing young doctors to join the hunger strike camp daily at 11am.

According to the source, charged YDA activists rushed to the OPD when they learnt the senior surgeon had engaged his juniors too in the C-Section. They locked the surgeon when he refused to observe the schedule.

The incident, which took place earlier this week, made the medical faculty call for an academic council meeting to take up the issue, a senior doctor told Dawn on condition of anonymity. He said the academic council met on Thursday and the issue was put up by senior doctors who also sought more security within the hospital and steps to prevent such incidents in future.

He said the academic council, however, postponed its meeting, declaring that the issue of young doctors’ hunger strike was already in the notice of the Punjab government and the council was not in a position to recommend action against those who misbehaved with the senior medics.

In another incident, Jinnah Hospital Medical Superintendent Dr Fazalur Rehman got a criminal case registered against two young doctors for hurling death threats at him. Dr Rehman told police that Dr Shabbir and Dr Adnan threatened him with consequences.

The health department recently terminated and suspended dozens of Jinnah Hospital young doctors for absence from duty during their strike. The action was taken on Dr Rehman’s recommendation.

Earlier, police had lodged a criminal case against some young doctors for torturing the medical superintendent of the District Headquarters Hospital, Gujranwala.

Similar incidents occurred during young doctors’ 37-day strike last year. Young doctors allegedly manhandled two senior medics of Jinnah Hospital and pro-vice chancellor of the King Edward Medical University.

YDA media secretary Dr Khurram Shahzad denied the allegation of misbehaviour with two senior doctors at the Services Hospital. He said some anti-YDA professors and members of the academic council of the Services Institute of Medical Sciences/Services Hospital wanted to defame young doctors to settle their personal score.

About threats to the Jinnah Hospital medical superintendent, Dr Shahzad said Rehman victimised young doctors during the strike. He said a motorbike of a young doctor was stolen from hospital’s parking stand and the MS got a criminal case lodged against two young doctors for taking the theft case to the police.