Peerless Hospital wore a wounded look on Wednesday with broken furniture and shards of glass. (Amit Datta) nAnother report on Page 23

Hooliganism in hospitals is a blot on Bengal, rued Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee a day after vandals ran riot at Peerless Hospital for allegedly turning away victims of a road accident.

“Some people were arrested on Tuesday night for the vandalism at a private hospital. But I was shocked to hear about a blockade on the Bypass in the morning to protest those arrests,” said the chief minister while inaugurating Medica Superspeciality Hospital at Mukundapur, close to Peerless, on Wednesday.

Bhattacharjee said his government was all for private investment in healthcare but was worried that “unfortunate” incidents like the one on Tuesday might queer the pitch. “We need more private hospitals, although there are already quite a few,” he added.

So was he giving Peerless Hospital a clean chit? “I have asked the health department to find out what triggered the incident and get back to me. We need to know the truth not only about what happened but also why,” Bhattacharjee said.

With health minister Surjya Kanta Mishra sitting next to him but mum on Tuesday’s incident, the chief minister warned private hospitals against committing any “mistake” that could invite reprisal.

“We don’t support vandalism in hospitals. We don’t condone mistakes by hospitals either. If a hospital commits any mistake, the law will take its own course,” he said.

Bhattacharjee also sounded a note of caution about the “unknown faces” behind the rule of the mob in the city, though according to members of the mob Metro had spoken to on Tuesday, the incident seemed to be a spontaneous explosion of pent-up anger in the area against Peerless.

“Para-r chhele ra nemey pore eirokom kicchu holey, kintu tader pichhone ke achhe sheita jaante hobey (local youths jump into the fray, but we need to find out who are behind them).”

The Association of Hospitals of Eastern India, which held a meeting on Wednesday to condemn the attack on Peerless, later faxed a letter to Writers’ Buildings seeking an appointment with Bhattacharjee. “We need to discuss this with the chief minister,” said Pradip Tandon, the association’s president

A delegation from the association had visited Peerless Hospital earlier in the day.