RG Kar lift probe points to torn brake cable behind fatal malfunction
Telegraph | 24 March 2026
The investigation into the elevator malfunction at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital has revealed that at least one cable was torn in the machine room situated on the top floor of the trauma care unit, where the lifts for that building are managed.
The preliminary examination suggested that the problem could be associated with the "brake cable" that connects the lift motor to a lever; however, it was found to be in a frayed condition.
“We are waiting for the final forensic report to understand its full implications. What appears is that someone had manually torn the brake cable that may have resulted in the erratic movement of the lift,” said an investigator attached to the case.
The lift, which was installed in the hospital in 2012 and handed over to the authorities in 2013, had been under the maintenance of a company based in Salt Lake. Police said they have learned that the emergency brake coupled to the motor is of Italian make.
Sources said hours after the incident in which Dum Dum resident Arup Banerjee was killed on Friday morning, the lift had undergone a fitness test whose report had been sent to the state public works department.
“That test had shown certain unusual signs which were corroborated by the physical inspection of the machine room,” said a police officer.
However, due to a lack of CCTV cameras in the machine room, law enforcement officials are banking on witness testimony and footage from other CCTV cameras to find the exact sequence of events. Sources indicated that the lift operators currently in police custody are being interrogated regarding this matter.
Till Sunday, the police have arrested five persons, including three liftmen and two security guards.
It is suspected that one of them had accessed the machine room during the crisis.
Lift number two, in which Banerjee lost his life, had been sealed since the incident on Friday morning.
Police said the lift will undergo another fitness test early next week in the presence of investigators, PWD engineers, forensic officials and representatives of the company that maintains the lift.
“The present condition of the lift has been video recorded. The lift will be inspected jointly. If the PWD that is the custodian of the lift feels, after the fitness test, that the lift is fit to run, we will remove the seal,” said an officer of the homicide wing of the detective department.
“If the diagnostic report (fitness report) shows the need for any maintenance or repair, that will be done before the lift is allowed to be operational again,” said the officer.
Police have examined company representatives and found that, as per protocol, engineers inspected the lift every month and reported to the PWD.
“There was no apparent sign of malfunction or defect even in the last report generated by the company,” a police source said.
The police said they were also probing the allegations of manual error.
The Rogi Kalyan Samiti members of the hospital, led by TMC leader Atin Ghosh, will hold a meeting on Monday to discuss the alleged shortcomings in the system that led to the death, said sources.