India News | Bhandara Fire: Guilty to Be Booked if Negligence Found, Says Minister

Nagpur, Jan 23 (PTI) Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh on Saturday said the forensic report into the January 9 Bhandara hospital fire, in which 10 infants were killed, is expected soon and if anybody is found guilty of negligence in the incident, a case would be filed against them.

Ten newborn babies, admitted in the Special Newborn Care Unit of the Bhandara district hospital had died while seven others were rescued.

Addressing a press conference here, Deshmukh said, "The forensic laboratary report in the Bhandara hospital fire will come today. If the report finding says that the incident was caused due to negligence, then a case will be filed by Bhandara police."

Replying to a query on the charges of rape against NCP leader Dhananjay Munde, the minister said, "The complainant woman has filed an affidavit and withdrawn her complaint. She claimed that there was political pressure to file the false complaint. Hence, this issue is over now...the allegations were politically motivated."

The woman had approached the police with the complaint against the Social Justice Minister (45) on January 11, accusing him of rape and sexual assault on pretext of marriage in 2006. However, she has withdrawn the complaint.

On the recruitment in the state police department, Deshmukh said that 5,300 of the 12,500 posts will be filled in the firstphase.

"The recruitment got delayed due to the stay to Maratha reservation. We held discussions with Maratha leaders on the issue and told them how important the recruitment process is and sought their support. They are cooperating," he said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)