Cuttack: A judicial inquiry into the devastating fire at the Trauma Care ICU of SCB Medical College and Hospital has officially begun today.According to reports, a retired High Court judge has been appointed to conduct the probe. The inquiry team reached the SCB Medical College campus this morning and started questioning staff and officials in the office of the Medical College Principal.Notably, the tragic fire broke out on March 16 in the Trauma Care ICU, claiming the lives of 12 patients. Following the incident, the Odisha government had ordered a judicial inquiry into the matter. Earlier, a fact-finding team led by Development Commissioner Deoranjan Kumar Singh had visited the SCB campus to ascertain the cause of the fire.Later, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi had ordered the suspension of four officials on charges of negligence. The suspended officials include Cuttack Circle Deputy Fire Officer Prakash Jena, Assistant Fire Officer Sanjeeb Kumar Behera, SCB Station Officer Abhinav Prusty, and Ranjan Kumar Biswal, assistant executive engineer of the general electrical division in Cuttack.The suspensions were based on the preliminary findings of the fact-finding team which pointed to lapses and negligence on the part of these officials.
