Saurabh Madaan Mithu, the organiser, dismissed all allegations of ignoring safety measures and said that the allegations were made to defame him and he had sought all permissions from the administration
New Delhi: The organiser of the Dussehra event at Amritsar where at least 59 people were crushed to death by a speeding train has released a video on Monday claiming that he took all necessary permissions and had appealed to the people to not stand on the tracks multiple times.
Saurabh Madaan Mithu, the organiser, dismissed all allegations of ignoring safety measures and said that the allegations were made to defame him and he had sought all permissions from the administration.
Mithu is the son of local Congress Councillor Vijay Madaan and a close aide of Punjab cabinet minister Navjot Singh Sidhu.
Mithu said, “The event was organised inside the boundaries of the ground and not on the railway tracks. The train came suddenly and before we could understand what had happened, it had mowed down people. There are some people who have personal animosity against me who are defaming me. I had requested people at least 10 times to not stand on the railway tracks. I and my family are very sad and pained by the accident”.
An advocate on Monday petitioned the Punjab and Haryana High court, seeking a probe by the CBI or a special investigation team into the accident in Amritsar.
Dinesh Kumar Dakoria said in his petition that the police should have registered an FIR against people who organised the Dussehra event close to railway tracks on Friday.
Former Amritsar-East MLA Navjot Kaur Sidhu, who was the chief guest at the event, State of Punjab, Indian Railways and Mithu have been made respondents in the case.
The petition is expected to be placed before the bench headed by Chief Justice Krishna Murari on Tuesday.
"It is unfortunate that nobody is taking responsibility of the said uncalled incident, even the Indian Railways department has said that they are not responsible," he said in his petition, adding that even the person who was present at the event as chief guest is "running away," he has said in his petition.
Dakoria has said that the versions of Amritsar authorities "are contrary" and appear to be a cover-up. The Punjab government has ordered a magisterial probe into the accident.
The petitioner sought directions for monitoring the probe by the high court, "besides directions for setting up a commission under retired/sitting justices (judges) for assessment and estimation of personal losses for granting adequate compensation.
In the video, Mithu said the police and fire brigade were also present at the ground where the Ravan effigy was burnt on Friday evening around 7 pm.
With agency inputs
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