Kolkata, Feb 16 (IANS): Three persons were arrested in West Bengal for allegedly vandalising and ransacking a well-known private hospital here following a patient's death, police said on Thursday. The hospital authorities have denied medical negligence.

Rakesh Dhanuk, Seikh Soni and Jiauddin Sheikh were arrested from their homes on Wednesday night in Kolkata's Mominpur-Ekbalpur region for allegedly trespassing and vandalising the Calcutta Medical Research Centre (CMRI) hospital, police said.

"The accused were identified after inspecting the CCTV footage at the hospital. They are charged under various sections of the IPC... The hunt for the other troublemakers is on," the police officer said.

A nearly 100-strong mob attacked the CMRI hospital on Wednesday morning with metal rods, breaking down the front door and ransacking the reception area, after a local teenage girl died in the hospital due to cardiac arrest.

The victims' relatives and locals accused the hospital authorities of wrong treatment and demanding money without taking care of critical patients.

However, the hospital authorities claimed the patient's family was told her survival chance was less than 10 per cent.

"Under any circumstances, chance of survival of the patient was less than 10 per cent. No other hospital took care of her. We are a humane hospital," an official of CMRI hospital told the media here.

"However, I would like to condemn the violence, which cannot be an answer to any unfortunate medical outcome," the official said.

The official said the patient's case was "mismanaged" right at the outset before her admission at CMRI.

"Because of the mismanagement the patient was about to die. At that point of time, the relatives and doctors sent the patient for admission in another hospital. The patient then went to another private hospital, which refused to admit her. Then they came to us and we admitted the patient and we are the only hospital who will do that on humanitarian grounds. We didn't refuse," the official maintained.

He said by the time the patient was brought to CMRI, she was in a state of shock.

"Her blood pressure was low and it was falling continuously. We did X-Ray and other investigation that clearly showed her bowels were perforated and in such situation you need to open the patient's abdomen and repair it, and you can only do when the condition is stable. She was taken to the OT and the anaesthetist evaluated her and said we can only operate on her if her blood pressure comes up to a relatively normal level."

The official said a case has been registered under West Bengal Medical Service Institutions and Medical Service Personnel Act 2009.

"Every death does not mean medical negligence and medical negligence does not mean that people have a right to indulge in violence. If they continue to do so then the only outcome is the closure of the hospital," he asserted.

However, in response to a poser on allegations of medical negligence levelled at the hospital, the official cut short the interaction claiming he had a lot of work at the hospital and had to leave.