IMA honours deceased doc couple, postpones executive meet

Dhanbad: A pall of gloom descended on the medical fraternity of the state after the tragic death of the gynaecologist couple Dr Vikas Hazra and his wife Dr Prema Hazra, who died of asphyxiation after their hospital R C Hazra Memorial hospital caught fire in the early hours of Saturday morning.
Dr Vikas and his wife were popular gynaecologists and they were well-known for treating infertility right from the time of Dr C C Hazra, the father of Dr Vikas.Dr Prema, is reportedly a distant relative of former PM, Deve Gowda. They met during their studies in Mumbai. Dr C C Hazra set up the hospital in memory of his father Dr R C Hazra in 1960.
“We are shocked and have no words to express our grief,” IMA state president Dr A K Singh said.
“The IMA has postponed the executive committee meeting scheduled for Sunday in Ranchi as a mark of respect for the couple. The incident should be thoroughly probed to ascertain the actual cause of the fire,” he added.
Expressing similar sentiments, Dr Shushil and Dr Chandan of the Dhanbad chapter of the IMA said Dr Vikas was the vice-president and active member of the association. The demise of such a philanthropic doctor couple is an irreparable loss to the medical fraternity, they said.
Meanwhile, the demand for a high-level probe into the incident is being raised from different corners. Dhanbad deputy commissioner Sandeep Singh and SSP Sanjeev Kumar along with Dhanbad SDO P K Tiwari and other senior administrative officials visited the hospital and informed that prima facie, the fire started from a short circuit and the electricity department officials have been directed to check the entire system before resuming power supply.