West Bengal hospital: CID arrests Congress activist for creating panic

According to CID reports, Amal Gupta, who is a staffer of Beharampur Municipality, had been detained earlier in the day and arrested at night, when investigators found several contradictions in his statement.

"We have held one, Amal Gupta, who was present in the hospital during the incident and spread panic, which created a nearly stamped-like situation," ADG of CID, Rajesh Kumar told IBNS.

"We found several contradictions in his statement and want him in our custody for more interrogation," Kumar added.

Following former minister Chandrima Bhattacharya claimed that the incident was an outcome of a conspiracy to malign the Mamata government, CID and forensic experts teams visited the scene on Sunday morning and collected samples from the accident spot.

Earlier on Saturday, a massive fire broke out in Murshidabad Medical College and Hospital in West Bengal, killing at least three people- a new born, a female attendant and a patient's relative- and leaving several others injured.

The incident triggered panic reaction among patients and relatives as they jostled and stampeded to get out.

As many as two fire tender engines rushed to the spot and doused the massive blaze.

However, the government claimed that no child was killed in the incident.

Later in the evening, the West Bengal government directed the CID to hold a probe into the incident and to ascertain if there was any sabotage behind the fire.

Besides this, the government has also formed a high-level probe committee, under the chairmanship of state Health & Family Welfare department's principal secretary, to investigate the tragic incident.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee also announced Rs 2 lakh compensation for next of kin of the deceased.

(Reporting by Deepayan Sinha)