Bhubaneswar, Oct. 20: Manoj Ranjan Nayak surrendered before police early this morning after the cops issued a look out notice for him and his wife, Saswati Das.
Manoj and his wife are both trustees of Siksha 'O' Anusandhan, which manages the Sum hospital. A major fire broke out in the hospital on Monday. The death toll in the mishap rose to 21 yesterday.
Police commissioner Y.B. Khurania said Manoj's wife Saswati, against whom the look out notice had also been issued, was not co-operating with them. She is yet to appear before the police.
A look out circular is a letter that authorities use to check whether a travelling person is wanted by the police. In India, the look out notice contains documents which have the identification parameters of a criminal and help the police catch him or stop him from crossing borders.
Later this evening, the police produced Manoj in the sub-divisional magistrate's court seeking three-day remand. However, the court allowed police a two-day remand beginning tomorrow. After his bail was rejected, he was sent to judicial custody.
The hospital fire has prompted the revenue divisional commissioner (central) to order a fire safety audit of all hospitals in the state.
Upon his return from New Delhi, chief minister Naveen Patnaik today said: "The police have so far arrested five persons, including the owner of the hospital. Exemplary action will be taken against those who are found guilty."
Khurania said: "Manoj surrendered before Khandagiri police at 3.30am. Interrogation is on. We are trying to understand the organisational structure of the trust managing the hospital. We are also trying to ascertain the sequence of events leading to the incident and identify persons responsible for the mishap. Other trustees and hospital officials will also be interrogated."
The police have sealed the affected portions of the hospital. Asked whether there were any plans to seal the entire hospital, Khurania said: "That is beyond the purview of the police. The directorate of medical education and training is the appropriate authority to take a call on it."
Based on the complaint of the fire service directorate, which had alleged negligence on part of the hospital authorities, the police have registered a case against the hospital under several sections of the Indian Penal Code.
Health minister Atantu Sabysachi Nayak today told The Telegraph: "There are some lapses on part of the Sum hospital management. Our department as well as the fire brigade have lodged the cases against the hospital. However, in order to avoid such incidents, we brought some amendments in the Clinical Establishment Act in the last Assembly session. The act has provisions for imposing fine up to Rs 50 lakh and six month jail for a hospital owner for not taking adequate fire safety measures. We will implement it shortly."
Revenue divisional commissioner (central) A.B. Ota today asserted that hospitals that lacked the fire safety measures would be closed.
"The collectors of all the 30 districts have been directed to be ready with the fire safety audit reports related to all hospitals by the end of November. A deadline of 15 days will be given for compliance with the fire safety measures to hospitals, where lapses are detected," said Ota.
On the progress of its inquiry into the Sum hospital fire, Ota said: "I have been given a time frame to submit the report in two months. I am hopeful that I will complete the inquiry and submit the report to the government ahead of the deadline." He said the inquiry would focus on safety, security and the disaster management plan of the hospital as also measures to avoid such fires in future.
Additional reporting by Lalmohan Patnaik
