West Bengal government on Monday sought reports from the state-run B C Roy Memorial Children's Hospital where seven crib deaths took place in last two days, officials said.
The health department asked the authorities of eastern region's largest paediatric referral hospital to send reports about crib deaths.
Hospital sources said that two infants died in last 24 hours and attributed the cause to malnutrition, being critically ill and underweight.
The fresh two deaths took the infant death toll to seven in last two days, with ages ranging from 10 days to one month, the sources said.
The sources, however, dismissed allegations that the patients' relatives were 'roughed up and misbehaved'.
Infant deaths in the city hospital came on the trail of similar reports from different state-run hospitals in Malda and Berhampore in last couple of days.
As angry family members staged demonstration and blocked roads yesterday alleging medical negligence, police rushed to pacify the agitators.
Hospital Superintendent Dilip Pal pleaded that most of the babies were brought to the hospital in a critical condition. He further claimed that there was "nothing abnormal" in such crib deaths which "is within the normal range."
The Superintendent said there was a heavy load of patients in the hospital and a large number of children are being brought daily, "many of whom already brought in critical condition to the hospital".
In October last year, 36 babies had died at several district hospitals and the referral B C Roy Children's Hospital.
