• The lift that Arup Banerjee and his family took should have been operated by a liftman. But there was none.
• There should not have been a grille gate so close to the lift door. But there was — and it was locked.
• The key to the basement door should have been easily accessible. But no one had it.
• After the family got stuck, the lift should have been handled by trained personnel. But whoever operated it worsened the situation.
• Security guards, liftmen and other staff on duty should have responded to frantic pleas for help. No one did.

Police probing the death of 41-year-old Arup Banerjee at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital are investigating a series of glaring human errors and possible mechanical faults in the trauma building lift accident. Metro pieces together the angles being examined by investigators.

Malfunction

A forensic team visited the lift machine room on the top floor of the trauma care building on Saturday to examine the lift’s condition and the sequence of events that led to the accident.

Police sources said the lift may have been mishandled while it was stuck in the basement. “It appears that safety protocols were bypassed, which resulted in erratic lift movement. Possibly someone without full knowledge accessed the machine room after the family was trapped,” said an officer.

Investigators are awaiting the formal report from the forensic department before drawing conclusions. The lift’s “safety circuit” was video recorded during the forensic examination on Saturday, sources said.

No operator

Each lift in the hospital has an assigned operator, but the one for this lift was absent when the accident occurred, the police said.

“We have asked for the duty roster from hospital officials for all personnel on duty that morning,” said joint commissioner (crime), Kolkata Police, Rupesh Kumar.

According to protocol, a lift operator should remain inside the lift while it is in use. “Had an operator been present, he could have warned the family not to step out and stand against the grille. Waiting inside the lift would have been safer,” said a police officer.

Training, licence

Officers from the homicide wing of the detective department said lift operators are required to have formal training and a licence.

“One must clear an exam and obtain a licence from the state government. We are verifying with the agency that supplied the operators whether they were licensed,” said anofficer.

The police said the OEM (original equipment manufacturer), based in Salt Lake, installed this lift and trained the operators. “We are checking with the company what type of training was provided,” an investigator said.

Grille gate

A grille gate in the lift lobby in the basement of the trauma building has raised multiple questions.

“Lobby guidelines were violated. There was no free access to the lobby. We are checking which agency installed the gate there,” an officer said.Sources said hospital officials told the police the basement was used to store goods, and the gate was meant to prevent theft.

Negligence

Family members and friends of Arup alleged that none of the security guards or staff had access to a key for the basement door, taking over 30 minutes to bring a separate key to operate the lift. “We are probing all allegations,” said a senior officer.

The five liftmen and security guards arrested on Friday were produced in Sealdah court on Saturday and remanded to police custody until March 27.

“The victim kept screaming for help but no one paid heed to his cries. They did not act in time. As a result, Arup Banerjee lost his life. All personnel on duty that morning should be brought to book,” said Shubhojyoti Dutta, the lawyer representing the family.

Lift company

The police are in touch with the company that manufactured, installed and maintains the lift.

“The company’s engineers and hospital staff have a WhatsApp group where liftmen can raise alerts about malfunctions. Preliminary investigation shows no alarm was raised,” said an officer.

A company official said they were informed by phone around 6.45am on Friday. “By then, the incident had already occurred,” the official said.

The accident happened at approximately 4.15am.