Videos of a number of young men and women in white lab coats being drenched as a water cannon fires at them went viral on Monday. The matter pertained to Hamidia Hospital in Bhopal where the intern doctors were staging a protest to demand a hike in their stipend – from around Rs 14,000 to Rs 30,000. Some of the protesters were also reportedly injured during the police action.

With the matter now reaching the Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister, the state’s police has ordered an inquiry into the use of the water cannon by its personnel.

An order issued by Bhopal Police Commissioner Sanjay Kumar on Tuesday appointed Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Zone-2, Vikas Sahwal as the inquiry officer.

Additional Police Commissioner (Law and Order) Shailendra Singh Chouhan said the inquiry was intended to establish the facts surrounding all the issues that had emerged in the incident. “If anything wrong was done to anyone… an independent and proper investigation will be conducted to establish the facts,” Chouhan said.

He said the matter had come to the notice of CM Mohan Yadav and the police commissioner, following which the inquiry was ordered. “It will be a completely impartial investigation. All aspects and all parties connected with the matter will be included within its scope,” he said.

‘Some doctors injured in action’

The police order followed the protest by intern doctors in Bhopal, during which personnel used a water cannon near the Hamidia Hospital gate. The order noted that some doctors were injured in the action. The inquiry will examine the circumstances leading to the use of the water cannon and whether the police action was appropriate.

Currently, interns receive about Rs 14,337 a month. Arguing that the existing amount was inadequate given the workload involved in internship and the rising cost of accommodation, food, transport and other expenses, they demanded that the stipend be raised to Rs 30,000.

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The Federation of All India Medical Association (FAIMA) has also backed the demand, calling the existing stipend inadequate and seeking a mechanism for its periodic revision.

The ongoing intern doctors’ agitation intensified on Monday when protesters at Hamidia Hospital decided to march towards CM Yadav’s residence. The doctors said they wanted to meet the CM and press for a written decision on the stipend hike after earlier representations and assurances had failed to produce an order. Police deployed barricades around the hospital to prevent the march from proceeding towards the CM’s residence.

The confrontation that is now the subject of the police inquiry began when some protesters attempted to move past the barricades.

Police said the protesters initially agreed to move towards the eastern gate but subsequently pushed towards the emergency gate, prompting the use of a water cannon.

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The protesters, however, maintained that they were seeking to hold a peaceful demonstration and alleged that excessive force was used against them. At least one intern had to reportedly be taken to the hospital after being hit by the water cannon.