2 owners of firecrackers unit hit by blast and fire in Harda arrested; another man detained
Harda/Bhopal (PTI): Two owners of the firecrackers factory in Madhya Pradesh's Harda town, where an explosion and subsequent blaze killed 11 people and injured 174 others, have been arrested by the police, officials said.
They were booked for culpable homicide not amounting to murder, among other charges, after an FIR was filed against them on Tuesday evening, they said.
Another person was detained in connection with the incident that took place on Tuesday in the Bairagarh locality on Magardha Road on the outskirts of Harda town, approximately 150km from the state capital Bhopal.
Chief Minister Mohan Yadav will meet the injured persons and families of the deceased in Harda on Wednesday, an official said.
The two factory owners - identified as Rajesh Agrawal and Somesh Agrawal - were arrested on Tuesday evening from Sarangpur in Rajgarh district, while one more person named Rafiq Khan was detained, Harda Superintendent of Police Sanjeev Kanchan told reporters.
These accused were booked under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 304 (punishment for culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 308 (attempt to commit culpable homicide) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention), he said.
Khan was detained for questioning, the SP said without providing further details about him. As per police sources, Khan is said to be the manager of the factory.
The cause of the explosion was not yet known, officials said.
The incident prompted the state government to seek Army's helicopters for evacuation.
Out of the 174 people rescued from the incident site, 34 were referred to Bhopal and Hoshangabad, while 140 were undergoing treatment in the district hospital, Narmadapuram Commissioner Pawan Sharma told reporters on Tuesday.
One death was reported from among the people who were referred, and 10 deaths were reported from the district hospital, he said.
"The fire has been doused and debris is being removed from the site. Investigation into the matter is underway," he added.
The sound of the explosion was heard 25 kilometres away and eyewitnesses said body parts were scattered at a distance from the site and vehicles on a nearby road were hit by splinters. CM Yadav visited Hamidia Hospital in Bhopal on Tuesday to meet the injured persons.
The Madhya Pradesh government has constituted a three-member committee to be headed by Additional Chief Secretary (Home) to conduct a detailed probe into the explosion at the firecrackers unit. The other members of the high-powered committee are - Additional Director General of Police (ADGP), Intelligence, Jaideep Prasad and Public Works Department (PWD) Secretary RK Mehra.
The panel is also mandated to fix the responsibility of those officials who were supposed to prevent such incidents.
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Insensitive of Pune hospital to deny admission to woman, says Fadnavis; forms inquiry panel
Mumbai (PTI): Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has ordered the formation of a committee to inquire into the death of a pregnant woman after she was allegedly refused admission by Pune's leading Deenanath Mangeshkar Hospital over non-payment of a deposit of Rs 10 lakh.
The controversy escalated on Friday with local political activists staging a protest outside the hospital and the hospital claiming that the woman's relatives were making misleading allegations.
A day earlier, BJP MLC Amit Gorkhe claimed in a video message that Tanisha Bhise, the wife of his personal assistant, was refused admission by the hospital. She was taken to another hospital where she died after delivering twins, he said.
A statement from the Chief Minister's Office said on Friday that he had taken serious note of the incident. "He has ordered the formation of an inquiry committee under the chairmanship of the Joint Commissioner of Charity, Pune," it said.
It said that the deputy secretary or under-secretary of the Law and Justice department would be the member secretary of the committee.
Further, instructions have been issued to the principal secretary, the Law and Justice department and the charity commissioner to ensure that the Charity Patient Scheme prepared as per the directions of the High Court is effectively implemented by all charity hospitals, the CMO said.
"All charitable hospitals should seek approval from the 'Charity Hospital Help Desk' through the online system to make reserved beds available to patients from the poor and vulnerable groups," it said.
The government has approved 186 posts of charitable health workers in charitable hospitals, and they should be filled immediately, the CMO statement said.
Talking to reporters here, Fadnavis said it was "insensitive" on the part of the hospital to deny admission to a pregnant woman.
He conceded that there was a lot of anger among the people over the incident.
"Medical ethics are needed. The Chief Minister's medical cell also intervened, but the hospital did not budge," Fadnavis said.
An internal inquiry report of the Mangeshkar Hospital claimed that the allegations of denial of admission for non-payment of Rs 10 lakh were "misleading" and made "out of frustration" by her family.
The woman's pregnancy was in the high-risk category, and her two underweight fetuses of seven months, coupled with a history of an old ailment, required Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) treatment for at least two months, it said.
The treatment required Rs 10 lakh to Rs 20 lakh and the family was advised that in case of lack of funds, they could admit the patient to the government-run Sassoon General Hospital for a complicated surgery, it added.
BJP MLC Chitra Wagh, meanwhile, came under criticism for a social media post praising the party's women's wing members who targeted and vandalised a private clinic in Pune's Kothrud area belonging to Dr Shusrut Ghaisas, who works at the hospital.
Dr Nilima Ghaisas, his mother, said her son did not practice there.
Activist Vishwambhar Choudhari criticised Wagh's remarks and claimed that the BJP-led state government recently allotted land to the hospital for Rs 1 per year rent.
The deceased woman's husband was the personal assistant of a BJP Member of the Legislative Council, yet he could not do anything, Chaudhari said.
