VIJAYAWADA: Saying that he will cooperate with the ongoing probe into the Swarna Palace hotel fire incident, Ramesh Hospitals MD Dr P Ramesh Babu on Tuesday said it is difficult for him to appear personally before the police in view of Covid-19 and the health condition of his family members.
He said that the Supreme Court had directed the police not to take him for custodial interrogation and that he would cooperate with the probe through video conference. The police had served notices under Section 160 of CrPC asking Ramesh Babu to appear before the police.
On Tuesday, the Ramesh Hospitals issued a statement holding the Swarna Palace hotel management fully responsible for the mishap. “The report of the five-member committee, formed by the Krishna Collector, and the Vijayawada police have indicated the same,’’ the statement claimed.
It stated that the Ramesh Hospitals started a Covid-19 Care Centre (CCC) only after Swarna Palace MD M Srinivasa Rao took full responsibility of the hotel’s functioning and mentioned that a paid quarantine centre was run on the hotel premises before it was taken over by the former to run the CCC.
It may be noted that Vijayawada police filed a case against Ramesh Babu and others of the Ramesh Hospitals in the hotel fire mishap on August 9.
“Ramesh Babu responded to the 11-point questionnaire given to him by the police and also to all the audio tapes related to the pact entered between the hotel and hospital managements. The WhatsApp conversations between the hotel management and hospital patient care teams were also submitted to the ACP,” the statement said.
Ramesh Hospitals said the hotel management was responsible to obtain an NOC from the Fire Services department and Occupancy certificate from the authorities concerned. He said that only a few rooms were given for running the CCC and the hotel charged room rent from those lodged in the CCC.
Meanwhile, even as the probe was underway, the AP High Court issued interim stay orders on further probe by the police. The government filed a Special Leave Petition (SLP) in the Supreme Court and got the stay vacated recently.
Hospital blames hotel for mishap
“Swarna Palace hotel management is fully responsible for the mishap. The report of the five-member committee, formed by the Collector, and the Vijayawada police have indicated the same,” a statement from Ramesh Hospitals claimed