Madhya Pradesh stampede: 21 officials suspended, death toll climbs to 115, Collector of Datia and three other top district officials were on Monday suspended by the Madhya Pradesh government over the alleged lapse in connection with the temple stampede in which the death toll rose to 115. 17 other officials were suspended as a result of investigations carried out into the incident on Monday. Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan also announced setting up of a judicial commission to probe the stampede at Ratangarh temple in Datia district during Navratri festivities on Sunday, as a war of words broke out between Congress and the ruling BJP over the tragedy which has sparked an outrage. Congress demanded Chouhans resignation, inviting a rebuff from BJP which accused it of playing politics over dead bodies. Commission, which is to be headed by a sitting High Court judge, will be asked to submit its report within two months and its recommendations will be implemented within 15 days after the state government gets the report, Chouhan said. It is expected to be constituted today. Four officials were suspended by the MP government after getting the nod from the Election Commission as the state is under the Model Code of Conduct following announcement of assembly polls. Collector Sanket Bhondwe, SP C S Solanki, SDM Mahip Tejaswi and Subdivisional officer of police( SDOP) B N Basave were among those suspended. State govt had earlier on Monday recommended to the State Election Commission to suspend the four officials and the entire staff of Sevdha police station. Sources in the EC in New Delhi said the permission to suspend the officials was granted to the state government. Decision to suspend 4 top district officials was taken after Chouhan visited Datia on Monday to review the situation and prima facie found them, policemen guilty of a major lapse that led to the stampede which also left over 100 injured. So far, we have received reports of 115 deaths in stampede, DIG D K Arya told PTI from Ratangarh. Stampede was said to have been triggered by rumours that the bridge over river Sindh which the devotees were crossing was about to collapse. Several panic stricken pilgrims were also believed to have leapt to their deaths in water below. Lakhs of devotees had converged at Ratangarh, 60 km from Daatia district headquarters and about 320 km from state capital Bhopal, to offer prayers at a Durga temple on the occasion of Navratri when disaster struck.
Posted on: Tue, 15 Oct 2013 02:43:29 +0000