The principal and medical superintendent of the state-run Neel Ratan Sircar Medical College in Kolkata resigned late on Thursday night amid an ongoing junior doctors’ strike that has paralysed services in most of West Bengal’s government hospitals, IANS reported.

The principal, Professor Saibal Mukherjee, and Medical Superintendent and Vice Principal Sourav Chatterjee e-mailed their resignation to the director of medical education, according to Ei Samay.

The junior doctors at the hospital went on a strike on Tuesday, a day after the family of a patient allegedly attacked two interns. Soon, the protests spread to state-run medical facilities across the state. On Thursday, the agitating doctors defied Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s ultimatum to return to work by 2 pm. Banerjee alleged that the protestors were outsiders and a conspiracy hatched by the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Communist Party of India (Marxist).

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The protestors met Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi to apprise him of their demands and said they did not expect “the chief minister to say what she did”.

The shutdown of medical services has directly impacted thousands of patients across the state, sparking an angry response from the public. Three junior doctors and a fourth-year student of Burdwan Medical College and Hospital were injured on Wednesday after a mob of patients’ relatives hurled bricks at them.

The AIIMS Resident Doctors’ Association condemned the violence in Bengal and said they has will boycott work on Friday. The group urged the other resident doctors’ associations across the country to join the strike. The Delhi Medical Association also called for a statewide complete medical bandh on June 14 in protest against the assault on doctors in West Bengal, and said it was ready for agitation to press for strong legislation and strict action against hospital violence, ANI reported.