In a big revelation, it has come to light that the Dussehra committee which had organised an event in Amritsar where the rail mishap occurred, had written a letter to the police seeking security arrangements at Dhobi Ghat, Golden Avenue in Amritsar. Assistant Sub Inspector Daljeet Singh permitted the event and made it clear that the police have no objections in this regard. This clearly means that the state government had been informed about the event. The state police force is an institution of the state government. The fact that the police was apprised of the event implies that the local administration as well the state government were in the know of things.
#AmritsarTrainAccident: Dussehra committee had written a letter (pic 1) to police seeking security arrangements for Dussehra celebrations at Dhobi Ghat, Golden Avenue in Amritsar. Assistant Sub-Inspector Daljeet Singh reverted (pic 2) that police have no objections in this regard pic.twitter.com/cu7QXbXZV7
— ANI (@ANI) October 20, 2018
It therefore appears that the Punjab government allowed the event to take place yesterday in a dangerous situation. The event was allowed in great proximity to the railway tracks which in itself is a great security threat. Thus, despite the security issues, the event was allowed. What is even more shocking is the fact that despite having knowledge of the event, the state government for reasons best known to it neither made adequate security arrangements nor brought the railways ministry into the loop. The Congress government as well as the organizers have been grossly negligent leading to this grave tragedy.
According to those who witnessed the heart wrenching and saddening tragedy in Amritsar, a large number of people stepped onto the railway tracks due to lack of space in the main event. The onlookers had inadvertently stepped onto the railway tracks and were transfixed at the sight of the burning of the Ravana effigy. Suddenly, the onlookers were crushed by a DMU train no. 74943 and as per latest reports, around 60 people died in this tragic mishap. Not one, but several lapses have come to light, the biggest one being not taking the railways in loop. According to primary reports from ABP News and Times Now, the DMU train No. 74943 was to cross that site, and the speeding train ran at an approximate speed of almost 100 km. / hr. Since the onlookers couldn’t hear the siren of the train owing to the loud noises from the firecrackers burning with the effigy, and most of the people standing on tracks were crushed by the speeding train. Earlier, Punjab minister Bajwa confirmed that no permission was sought from the state government. But now his claim stands refuted. Once the police came to know about the event and the request for security arrangements, the local administration and the Punjab government must have made adequate arrangements to prevent any untoward incident or deny permission altogether citing the awkward location of the event. However, permission was given to the organizers casually. Prima facie, it seems that not only the organizers but the Punjab government has also been negligent leading to this awful tragedy.
