Bhubaneswar: After eggs, tomatoes were hurled at official residence of Health and Family Welfare Minister Niranjan Pujari in Bhubaneswar on Tuesday amid protests, demanding immediate arrest of owner of Hi-Tech hospital Tirupati Panigrahy for the identity goof-up following death of three of the four technicians injured in the December 29 evening blast.
According to sources, All Odisha Students’ Voice (AOSV), a students’ outfit, took out a bike rally and reached the spot this morning. They then shouted slogans against the Health Minister and demanded Panigrahi’s arrest and cancellation of licence of the medical-college-cum-hospital in the city. A scuffle also broke out between the on-duty policemen and agitators, who were then taken into preventive custody to maintain law and order.
On Monday, Panigrahi claimed the hospital took correct steps both legally and ethically and he was prepared to face any investigation. The High-Tech owner’s explanation came shortly after Chhatra Congress activists staged demonstration and hurled eggs at Health Minister’ official quarters, demanding his arrest.
Also Read: Chhatra Congress Activists Hurl Eggs At Odisha Health Min House Over Hi-Tech Tragedy
The BJP state unit too demanded a judicial probe into the fatal mishap.
The identity mix up of the victims of the blast had led to a chain of events while exposing the shoddy identification procedure adopted by the hospital authorities and police. Dilip Samantaray, who sustained critical burns in a compressor explosion and was thought to have succumbed, following which his wife died by suicide out of grief, was found to be alive and under treatment on January 4. He, however, suffered a cardiac arrest and passed away early on Saturday, January 6, within hours after being taken off ventilator and revealing his true identity.
