Bihar doctors end strike action

The doctors have suffered a wave of crime (Pic: Prashant Ravi)

Doctors in the northern Indian state of Bihar have ended a strike they called in protest at the killing of a prominent local surgeon.

About 20,000 doctors in government and private hospitals had stopped work, paralysing medical care in Bihar.

They said they had agreed to end their action after the government assured their safety.

The doctors have suffered a wave of extortions and murders - 35 have been kidnapped in the past four years.

Five of them have been killed.

A spokesman for the Indian Medical Association confirmed to the BBC the doctors had called off their strike.

Lawless state

The action followed the murder of surgeon Nand Kishore Agarwal last weekend.

Mr Agarwal was gunned down in his clinic in Bihar's capital, Patna, after he refused an extortion demand.

A police constable has been arrested in connection with the murder.

Businessmen and doctors are routinely targeted by extortionists and kidnappers in Bihar, widely considered to be India's most lawless state.

One kidnapped doctor, Nagendra Prasad, was released on Wednesday after 19 days in captivity.

Last year, at least 10 patients died without treatment in Bihar hospitals after doctors went on strike in protest at the kidnapping of one of their colleagues.

In a separate development, nearly 400 government doctors have been suspended in northern Uttar Pradesh state.

Junior state health minister Jayveer Singh told the BBC the doctors had been suspended for not reporting to work after being transferred to a new location.

Correspondents say many government doctors working in Indian cities resist transfers to rural areas, leading to an acute shortage of doctors in villages.