Sum Hospital owner gets bail

The Odisha govt has ordered an inquiry into the fire incident by the Revenue Divisional Commissioner (RDC) under the Commission of Enquiry Act of 1952.

Bhubaneswar: A court here on Friday granted conditional bail to Sum Hospital owner Manoj Ranjan Nayak and medical superintendent Pushparaj Samantasinghar, who were arrested following a fire tragedy at the medical facility which claimed 26 lives.

While granting bail, Khurda Additional District Court-II Judge Shyam Sundar Das asked both Nayak and Samantasinghar to furnish a bail bond of Rs one lakh and two sureties each and asked them to cooperate in the investigation, refrain from tampering evidence and appear at the police station as and when required by the investigating agency.

The duo was among five persons arrested in the aftermath of the fire incident.

Nayak was arrested on October 20 while Samantasinghar was taken into custody on October 18.

All five arrested have been booked under sections 304, 308, 285 and 34 of the IPC. The case was registered on an FIR filed by the Fire Services Department for laxity in fire safety measures.

Earlier, the Commissionerate Police had secured a two-day remand for Nayak to interrogate him.

Meanwhile, the police have issued summons to Saswati Das and Arati Nayak, trustee members of Sikshya O Anusandhan Charitable Trust that runs Sum Hospital, to appear before them.

The Odisha government has ordered an inquiry into the fire incident by the Revenue Divisional Commissioner (RDC) under the Commission of Enquiry Act of 1952.