Police mull seizing agency papers, engaged with fire-fighting system at Sealdah ESI Hospital
Telegraph | 21 October 2024
Police are planning to seize documents related to the private agency that had been engaged for the installation of a fire-fighting system at the ESI Hospital in Sealdah, where a fire broke out on Friday morning.
The medical superintendent of the hospital, Aditi Das, has lodged a police complaint saying the agency had started work in January last year and the system was to be functional in six months. The project, however, remains incomplete.
The police and the family of the patient who died after the fire broke out said on Sunday that they were yet to get the post-mortem report.
The OPD of the Sealdah hospital, which has been shut since Friday, will reopen on Monday, hospital officials said.
A senior officer at Narkeldanga police station said once the documents are seized, “appropriate steps” would be taken against the agency.
“They installed the pipelines and the water reservoir but there is no water in the reservoir. They did not conduct any drill or training,” said an officer at the police station.
After the fire broke out, 91 patients had to be evacuated. Many were taken to the ESI Hospital in Maniktala. Some opted for an early discharge, while a few were shifted to the high dependency unit of the Sealdah hospital.
One of the patients, Uttam Bardhan, 54, died a few hours later, resulting in allegations that the death was caused by the fire.
Bardhan’s wife Pinky told The Telegraph on Sunday that the family was yet to get the post-mortem report.
“We will decide on what to do after we get the post-mortem report. Right now we are busy with the rituals,” she said.
The police have started two cases in connection with the fire. The first is based on the complaint lodged by the medical superintendent against the agency hired for the installation of the fire-fighting system at the hospital.
The second was an unnatural death case.
The deputy commissioner of police, eastern suburban division, Gaurav Lal, said a decision would be taken on whether the charges need to be amended or not after the post-mortem report comes and the cause of Bardhan’s death becomes clear.
The medical superintendent said: “The OPD will be open from Monday at different locations in the hospital that are not affected by the fire. The building which caught fire is still sealed.”m