After Doctor Couple's Death, Son Alleges Attempt To Set Jharkhand Hospital On Fire

An FIR has been filed against unknown persons in the hospital fire case, in which five persons including a doctor couple died due to suffocation in Jharkhand's Dhanbad district, police said on Tuesday.

The son of the doctor couple, Ayush Hazra, lodged the FIR at Dhanbad's Bank More police station on Monday late evening, alleging culpable homicide and an attempt to set the hospital building on fire under conspiracy with an intention to damage property, police said.

Bank More police station officer-in-charge PK Singh said, "On complaint of Ayush, son of doctor couple, an FIR was lodged under various sections of IPC against unknown persons. We have initiated an investigation in this regard."

Around 2 am on Saturday, a massive fire broke out in store room of RC Hazra Memorial Hospital, located at Telephone Exchange Road of coal city, in which five persons were killed due to suffocation.

The victims include the medical establishment's owner Dr Vikas Hazra (64), his wife Dr Prema Hazra (58), the owner's nephew Sohan Khamari, domestic help Tara Devi and a villager from doctor's native village. The pet dog of the doctor couple also died in the incident.

In the FIR, Ayush has pointed out that it is matter of investigation as the store room in which fire broke out remained locked. "No one goes there. Who had opened it that day?" he asked.

The bedroom of Dr Vikash Hazra, in which he was sleeping, also had a stair to the terrace but why did nobody inform the rescue team about it after the incident, he asked.

Prerna Hazra, the daughter of the doctor couple, who reached Dhanbad on Sunday from Nepal, had repeatedly alleged that fire was not an accident, albeit it was a conspiracy to eliminate her father and mother.

Ayush and Prerna both are medical students studying in Puducherry and Nepal respectively.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)