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Two months ago to this date, they had rushed to the same spot, anxious for news of their loved ones, only to see bodies being carried out. On Thursday, family members of the December 9 AMRI fire victims met in front of the hospital to launch a signature campaign demanding justice.
They demanded that AMRI directors and managers found guilty of delay in alerting the fire brigade and keeping help at bay be booked for murder.
“It was not just negligence. They had deliberately switched off the fire alarm. It had not become defunct because of lack of maintenance. It was cold-blooded murder. They did not let us carry patients downstairs even when the smoke was spreading,” said Raja Ganguly, a multinational employee. “Immobile patients like my father (Jaharlal Ganguly), who was in the fourth-floor ICU, must have felt so helpless in their last moments.”
The relatives also vented their anger against the security personnel at AMRI, Dhakuria who prevented local residents and relatives from entering the Annexe I building till it was too late.
“The AMRI authorities did not allow patients to be evacuated in fear that they would not be able to realise the bills, especially of patients with medical insurance. We demand that those found guilty be slapped with Article 302 (punishment for murder) so that no one dares play with people’s lives in future,” said Paromita Guha, whose mother Mridula died in the fire.
Twenty-four hours before the high court hears the bail petitions of five AMRI directors, the campaigners fanned out across the city — from Garia, Jadavpur 8B bus stand, Prince Anwar Shah Road and Gariahat in the south to Sealdah, Shyambazar, Dunlop and Dum Dum Metro station in the north. “In Dhakuria and Gariahat alone, we collected more than 4,000 signatures. The total count went well beyond 10,000,” Ganguly said.
Prisoners’ plea
Defence counsel for AMRI director Pronab Dasgupta, vice-president (administration) Preeta Banerjee, senior vice-president Satyabrata Upadhyay, general manager (maintenance) Sanjib Pal and night administrator Sajid Hossain has sought first-class prisoner status for the five accused.
The chief judicial magistrate will issue an order on the matter on February 22.
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