Kashi medical team accompanying French tourists attacked, doctor critically hurt

VARANASI: A group of 13 people allegedly attacked a doctor and four employees of the Varanasibased Anandmayi Hospital when the hospital team was accompanying a group of French tourists in Mirzapur on Sunday evening, police said.

The doctor was critically injured when he, along with others, resisted an attempt by assailants to forcibly take selfies with the French tourists at Lakhania Dari waterfall, a tourist spot under Ahraura police station, police said.

The attackers also dragged a woman employee of the hospital by her hand and misbehaved with three other hospital employees, police said, adding the doctor was admitted to a government hospital in Mirzapur.

A case was registered against 13 people on a complaint by the doctor and four of them were arrested, station officer Praveen Kumar Singh said.

The four arrested men were identified as Imran, Deepak, Prabhat and Vivek, he added. The nine others fled, police said. A team has been deployed for their arrest. To a question, Singh said the youths did not attack the foreign tourists. Police said six French nationals, including Bernard, Fremini, Jean Pride and Patricia, were on a visit to Anandmayi Hospital, Varanasi. All of them were associated with a social organisation.

A hospital team, including Dr Nitin Kumar Dey, and some employees took the French tourists to Lakhania Dari on Sunday. After parking the vehicle at Lakhania Dari, the tourists walked to the nearby picnic spot Choona Dari, police said, quoting the doctor. When tourists and the hospital employee were on way back to the vehicle, 13 youths, who appeared drunk, stopped the tourists, and started taking selfies with them, police said. While taking selfies, one of the youths dragged a woman employee by her hand and misbehaved with three other hospital employees. When Dr Nitin Kumar resisted, the youths left, lay in wait nearby and then attacked the doctor with bottles and canes, inflicting severe injuries on his head.Later, the victims reached Ahraura police station and informed the police about the incident.