Kolkata: The lift of the trauma care centre in the RG Kar hospital, which was reportedly certified to be fit for use by the concerned inspecting authorities during the first week of this month, had malfunctioned a week before the mishap that claimed the life of a 39-year-old youth on March 20.
According to sources, during the first week of March, engineers had inspected the lift and found no problem. But on March 13, the same lift malfunctioned.
After checking the lift car and the machine, the engineers found some issues in the motherboard and rectified them. After the repair work, the lift was allowed to be used normally.
But early on the morning of March 20, the lift again malfunctioned when the deceased, Arup Banerjee, along with his wife and son, were using it to go to the fourth floor.
Suddenly, the lift descended to the basement and they got stuck there. After a few moments, when the doors opened, they found the outer iron gate locked. His wife had told the media that she and her son managed to position themselves between the lift door and the gate.
When Banerjee attempted to step out, the lift suddenly started moving again, trapping him between the doors.
After forensic experts checked the lift car and the machine, they informed the cops about their doubts about the earlier repair work.
It is suspected that the software that operates the lift car’s movement somehow did not work properly, which led to the tragic death of Banerjee. Sleuths are probing to find out whether the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) was followed or not after the repair work carried out on March 13.
Meanwhile, nearly 30 people, including the five arrested, have been interrogated so far in connection with the case.
However, cops are waiting for the final report of the forensic experts to ascertain the exact cause of the malfunction.