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2 days after fire, Maharashtra hospital’s CEO, director held
Two days after 15 people lost their lives in the fire at Vijay Vallabh Hospital, Virar, the Mira Bhayander Vasai Virar (MBVV) Commissionerate’s crime branch early on Sunday arrested the medical facility’s chief executive officer (CEO) Dr Dilip Bastimal Shah, 56, and director, Dr Shailesh Dharamdev Pathak, 47, for culpable homicide and other offences under the Indian Penal Code (IPC), Dr Mahesh Patil, deputy commissioner of police (crime), zone 3, MBVV, said
Two days after 15 people lost their lives in the fire at Vijay Vallabh Hospital, Virar, the Mira Bhayander Vasai Virar (MBVV) Commissionerate’s crime branch early on Sunday arrested the medical facility’s chief executive officer (CEO) Dr Dilip Bastimal Shah, 56, and director, Dr Shailesh Dharamdev Pathak, 47, for culpable homicide and other offences under the Indian Penal Code (IPC), Dr Mahesh Patil, deputy commissioner of police (crime), zone 3, MBVV, said.
A police officer said that despite it being mandatory to renew fire safety licence every six months, the hospital had not renewed its licence since last September.
“The hospital is one of the top three private Covid-19 facilities in Vasai-Virar region and should have focused on the fire safety,” said the officer.
The Vasai court on Sunday afternoon remanded the two accused in police custody till Monday. Another director, Bastimal Shah, and a few doctors and staff are also booked and are yet to be arrested, said Dr Patil.
Meanwhile, a fire brigade official said there was a delay in calling the fire department.
“We received the call informing about the fire on Friday at 3.13am, following which we reached the spot in five minutes and doused the fire by 3.45am. Two nurses had noticed sparks in the central AC unit and the hospital staff had unsuccessfully tried to douse the flames using fire extinguishers, in which 15 precious minutes were wasted. They should have called us immediately. We will mention this aspect in our report to the police and other agencies,” said the official.
“When we reached the spot, we rushed to the ICU (intensive care unit) on the second floor and rescued four patients and admitted them to other hospitals. But two patients died during the treatment, while two others are undergoing treatment at Chandansar Covid Care Hospital and Priyadarshini Hospital, Virar (East),” said the fire brigade official.
According to the police, 70 more patients who were admitted in the first, third and fourth floors have been moved to hospitals in the Vasai region and to the Jumbo Covid centre at Dahisar.
