Still FIR-proof after fire killed 8

Ahmedabad: Bharat Mahant in whose hospital eight Covid patients died on Thursday morning is still a free man as police claim they have no paperwork to lodge a complaint. Mahant is a BJP leader and the son of a former Gujarat minister, Mahant Vijaydasji. Ahmedabad Police found Mahant so ‘cooperative’ that he was allowed to leave after a short detention on Friday.

Cops say that they have not filed any complaint as they are yet to receive reports from the AMC and its Ahmedabad Fire and Emergency Services. The two departments have been facing flak since the tragedy. Moreover, the hospital was sealed by the AMC only on Friday.

Deputy commissioner of police, Zone-1, Ravindra Patel said, “We have not registered a complaint as we have been waiting for reports from other departments including the forensic science laboratory, the fire department of the AMC, and the electricity department.”

When asked about Mahant, Patel said, “He was neither arrested nor detained under house arrest. We have only taken his statement.”

On the query about the sealed hospital, Patel said that he knew it had been sealed but suggested that “authentic information” be sought from the AMC. tnn