Two eminent city doctors who are on the AMRI Hospitals’ management board were arrested by the detective department (DD) of the Kolkata police on Friday morning. The court sent them to seven days’ police custody. One of them Mani Chhetri, aged around 92 years, is the managing director of the ill-fated hospital while Pranab Dasgupta, 60, is one of the directors.
Dr Dasgupta, a gynaecologist, is also the president of East Bengal Club. They were arrested from their residences in south Kolkata and taken to Lalbazar, the city police headquarters, said joint commissioner of police (crime) Damayanti Sen. With their arrest, the total number of accused held in the AMRI Hospital fire case in which 93 people were killed, rose to 13.
The hospital’s licence, cancelled by chief minister Mamata Banerjee after the tragedy, was issued in the name of Dr Chhetri, a medicine specialist. During the devastating fire on December 9, 2011, Dr Dasgupta was in Bangladesh and the DD had contacted him, sources added. Later the duo was summoned for questioning at Lalbazar.
Booked on culpable homicide charge not amounting to murder under Section 304 of the Indian Penal Code, Dr Chhetri and Dr Dasgupta were produced before chief judicial magistrate at Alipore court C.H. Karim in the afternoon.
Dr Chhetri’s counsel Anirban Guha Thakurata appealed for bail on the grounds of his advanced age and immaculate reputation.