Security for doctors in East to be strengthened

Chamikara Weerasinghe

COLOMBO: Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa promised to strengthen protection for medical practitioners in the East when doctors of Government Medical Officers' Association (GMOA) met him yesterday to discuss their security problems after an incident that took place on Sunday at Vavunathivu hospital in the Batticaloa District, where a doctor was killed by an unidentified gunman.

The doctor was shot dead inside Vavunathivu hospital around 9.30 pm, the police said.

The Defence Secretary told GMOA representatives that steps will be taken to streamline the security of medical practitioners in the East by placing it under an Assistant Superintendent of Police in addition to providing them with the protection the Special Task Force.

Government sources said, the Government aims to beef up security of medical practitioners so that they may carry their services without being affected by any outside influences.

The Government will see that the doctors are well protected to carry out their duties freely, the sources added.