Cuttack: Two days after the firecracker mishap during the Lord Kartikeswar immersion ceremony in Odisha’s Kendrapada, a critically injured patient succumbed to burn injuries while he was under treatment at Cuttack SCB Hospital late on Friday night.
The deceased was identified as Uday Bhoi.
Meanwhile, five other critical patients are still fighting for their lives in SCB Medical’s Burn ICU, two in Central ICU, three in the ICU and another 23 are undergoing treatment in the ward.
It is pertinent to mention here that the Sadar police arrested three members of different puja committees, identified as Bulu Mallik, Arakhita Mallik, and Chilu Dash, in connection with the fire mishap on Friday. The accused were booked under Sections 286, 337, 338, and 109 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and were produced before the court.
A case has also been registered as per firework and loudspeaker Act-5 and Explosives Act-3 & 5 for storing explosives and other firecrackers without prior permission.
Notably, Sadar police took suo-moto cognisance of the matter and registered cases against many other puja committee members. The sub-divisional police officer (SDPO) Jayant Mahapatra has informed that there will be many other arrests soon.
“They can get jail-term up to 10 years or maybe life-term. Their little negligence has put in danger the lives of many. Strict action should be taken against them” Public Prosecutor Niranjan Bal told media.
