KOLKATA: The managing director and another director of AMRI hospitals were arrested on Friday in connection with the country’s worst-ever hospital fire that claimed 93 lives.
MD Mani Chhetri and Pranab Dasgupta, both eminent physicians who were earlier questioned by police, were arrested from their respective residences in the city on Friday morning, Joint Commissioner of Police Damayanti Sen said.
Chhetri (92) and Dasgupta were produced in a city court which remanded them in police custody till February 2. They were charged under section 304 of the IPC (culpable homicide not amounting to murder).
With their arrest, 13 people have so far been held in connection with the December 9 hospital fire in which 90 patients and three nurses died due to suffocation.
Three board members of the hospital, Aditya Agarwal, Preeti Surekha and Rahul Todi are absconding and the police have issued lookout notices for them. The licence of the hospital located at Dhakuria was cancelled on the day of the fire.
The hospital was jointly promoted by R S Goenka-led Emami Group and S K Todi-led Shrachi Group of companies with a minor shareholding by the West Bengal govt.
The state health department has since ordered closure of the hospital.
The other arrested were board members S K Todi, R S Goenka, Ravi Todi, Manish Goenka, Prasanta Goenka, Dayananda Agarwal and R S Agarwal, senior vice-president S Upadhyay, administrative officer Sanjib Pal, vice-president Pritha Banerjee and staff member Sajid Hussain. (PTI)