NEW DELHI: A court in Delhi on Monday approved a plea by the Delhi Police for three days of custodial interrogation of Dr Naveen Khichi, the owner of Baby Care New Born Child Hospital, and Dr Aaksh, the on-duty doctor, following a deadly fire at the hospital.
The blaze, which occurred late Saturday in Vivek Vihar, resulted in the deaths of seven newborns and injured five others. Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Vidhi Gupta Anand granted the police’s request for custody, with a detailed order forthcoming.
The private neonatal hospital in the Vivek Vihar area where a blaze killed the seven newborns and injured five others was operating with an expired license and no fire department clearance. The hospital also lacked qualified doctors.
Police arrested Dr Khichi and Dr Aaksh on Sunday, charging them under IPC sections 336 (endangering life), 304A (causing death by negligence), 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), and 308 (attempt to commit culpable homicide).
Five of the seven newborns’ bodies have been handed over to their families post-mortem, with the remaining two to follow after autopsy.
The police noted one newborn reportedly died hours before the fire, pending verification through autopsy.
Reports suggest that forensic teams and an inspector from the Electricity Department will visit the hospital to determine the fire’s exact cause.
Following the extinguishing of the fire, crime and forensic teams examined the site, gathering burnt evidence from various sources such as a van, debris, and wires. Due to intense heat, collection of evidence from within the building was hindered.
During the inspection, authorities discovered 27 oxygen cylinders both inside and outside the building, with five found to have burst. Additionally, the fire damaged an ambulance, a scooty, and an air conditioning unit on the ground floor of an adjacent building.
Dr Khichi and Dr Aaksh will be produced in a Karkardoma court in the afternoon, where the police may seek further custody for interrogation.
Fire incidents have claimed 55 lives and injured over 300 people in Delhi this year, according to Delhi Fire Services (DFS) data released on Monday.
The statistics reveal that 16 fatalities occurred in January and February each, 12 in March, four in April, and seven by May 26.
Injuries from fires numbered 51 in January, 42 in February, 62 in March, 78 in April, and 71 by May 26.
The DFS received 8,912 fire-related calls from January 1 to May 26, a significant increase from 6,436 calls in the same period last year. The death toll also rose from 36 last year to 55 this year. With Agency Inputs