Kolkata: Experts from the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) inspected RG Kar Hospital’s trauma care building on Saturday as the lift death probe intensified, with the Biology division set to visit on Monday. Forensic experts collected samples from the lift, its collapsible gate, the basement and the spot where the body was found. Officers of the homicide department of Kolkata Police also visited the site. Meanwhile, the five arrested persons — Milan Kumar Das, Biswanath Das, Manas Kumar Guha, Ashraful Rahman and Shubhadip Das — were produced before a Sealdah court on Saturday and remanded to police custody till March 27. Arup Banerjee, a 40-year-old resident of Dum Dum, died early Friday after getting trapped in a patient lift while accompanying his wife and three-year-old son, who had been brought to the hospital with a fracture. The lift allegedly malfunctioned, first moving upwards and then descending to the basement, where the doors briefly opened. The victim’s wife and child stepped out, but the doors closed before Banerjee could exit. As the lift moved again, he was caught between the doors and sustained fatal injuries. The family alleged that a locked iron grill gate outside the basement lift area delayed rescue efforts, claiming that despite repeated pleas for over an hour, no one broke open the lock. The key was reportedly with the Public Works Department.
Post-mortem findings indicated death due to polytrauma, including compression of the chest wall, rupture of the heart, lungs and liver, and multiple fractures of the hands, legs and ribs. All injuries were ante-mortem. Investigators are examining whether prior faults had been reported, from which floor the victim boarded the lift, the sequence of buttons pressed and whether multiple commands affected its functioning, along with the absence of a lift operator and possible maintenance lapses. Meanwhile, the couple’s three-year-old son underwent surgery for a fractured hand on Friday and was later shifted to a private hospital along EM Bypass. The victim’s wife said she did not want her child to remain in the same hospital where the incident occurred.