VIJAYAWADA: A day after three staff of Ramesh Hospitals were arrested in connection with the fire that killed 10 COVID-19 patients and left 18 others injured on Sunday, Vijayawada city Commissioner of Police (CP) B Sreenivasulu on Tuesday said eight special teams were formed to nab the managing director of the hospital, Dr. Pothineni Ramesh Babu, who is reportedly absconding.
The CP said Ramesh Babu had been missing since the news of the fire at Swarna Palace broke. Ramesh Hospitals was using the Swarna Palace hotel as a COVID Care Centre. The police are also on the lookout for Swarna Palace owner Mutthavarapu Srinivas Rao.
Sources said the eight special teams are searching for Ramesh Babu in cities such as Chennai, Hyderabad and Bengaluru, suspecting that he might be taking shelter at a relative’s house. Police sources said both Ramesh Babu and Srinivas Rao failed to respond to the notices served on them to appear before the investigation officers.
“The eight teams are tracing Ramesh Babu and Srinivasa Rao based on mobile phone signals, and are monitoring the movements of people close to them. We are also verifying the video clip that Ramesh Babu released yesterday (Monday),” said a senior police official.
The Governorpet police on Monday arrested Ramesh Hospitals chief operating officer (COO) Dr Kodali Rajagopala Rao, general manager Kurapathi Sudarshan and Covid Care Centre coordinating manager Pallabothu Venkatesh. A case had been registered against the managements of Ramesh Hospitals and Swarna Palace under Sections 304(II) and 308 R/W 34 of the IPC. “The three arrested were on Tuesday produced before the metropolitan magistrate court, which sent them to 14 days judicial remand. They were remanded to the special jail in Machilipatnam,” the Governorpet police said.
Meanwhile, the Indian Medical Association Andhra Pradesh chapter wrote to Director General of Police (DGP) Gautam Sawang requesting him not to incriminate and initiate action against the service providers (Ramesh Hosptials) and its employees at a time when doctors are offering their services amid a crisis. The IMA pointed out that the Health Department had given permission to run the Covid Care Centre.