Owner gets bail in SUM Hospital fire case in Odisha

A local court here on Friday granted conditional bail to SUM Hospital owner Manoj Nayak, who was arrested in connection with the October 17 hospital fire which claimed 29 lives.

The court also granted bail to Medical Superintendent of SUM Hospital Pusparaj Samantasinghar.

The Additional District Judge's court of Khurda granted bail to Nayak against a bail bond of Rs 1 lakh and two sureties, said S.N. Das, the lawyer of Nayak.

The court laid down conditions for Nayak to appear at the police station whenever called for questioning and cooperate with the investigating officers in the probe process.

The court had reserved its verdict on the bail plea on Thursday.

Basing on a complaint filed by a fire officer, the Commissionerate Police had arrested Pushparaj Samantsinghar and three others in the SUM Hospital fire case.

On October 20, Nayak had surrendered before Khandagiri police following a lookout notice served by police.

Meanwhile, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) registered a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) against the 'Siksha O Anusandhan Charitable Trust' that runs several institutions, including the SUM Hospital.

The ED has sought details of financial transactions of SUM Hospital and SOA University from 2005 to 2016. It also sought the details of money collected from the students of the university and patients admitted to the hospital, said sources.

Notably, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) inquiring into the black money in the country had directed the ED to look into the financial transactions of the hospital and the trust.

--IANS

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