A ticket scalper has been detained in Nanjing, Jiangsu province, on suspicion of stabbing a doctor.

Sun Beicheng, deputy director of Jiangsu Province Hospital’s liver transplant unit, was attacked in his office on Thursday morning.

The assailant stabbed Sun in his left leg, fractured his jaw and cut him around the mouth.

A colleague heard the struggle and broke into the locked office to stop the attack.

Sun’s condition has been described as stable following an operation on Thursday morning.

According to police, the suspect, surnamed Zhao, has confessed to attacking Sun, who he said criticized him.

Zhao has been put under criminal detention and the police have vowed to work with other departments to ensure the safety of medical workers at the hospital.

Scalpers operate in many hospitals around China, buying up appointment tickets in bulk and selling them on to would-be patients at inflated prices.

A crackdown on scalpers was announced in Beijing earlier this year.