COURTESY HT NOV 30
Row over police commissioner attending event by key accused
Out on bail now, Mithu and others were indicted in the probe conducted by the then divisional commissioner
Anil Sharma
anil.kumar@htlive.com
AMRITSAR : Police commissioner Sukhchain Singh Gill has stoked a controversy after he attended an event that Amritsar train tragedy’s prime accused Saurabh Madan, alias Mithu, had organised to distribute blankets on Saturday night. Mithu, whose mother Vijay Madan is Congress councillor in the city, is out on bail after 61 people were killed when a speeding train ran over a crowd gathered to witness Dussehra near the Jaura Phatak in October 2018. Mithu had organised this function too. Former state minister Navjot Singh Sidhu’s wife Dr Navjot Kaur Sidhu was the chief guest.
Mithu and other organisers were indicted for the tragedy in the magisterial probe that the then Jalandhar divisional commissioner B Purushartha had conducted. In June this year, a Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Government Railway Police (GRP), formed to fix criminal responsibility, filed a charge-sheet against seven organisers of the event, including Mithu, in an Amritsar court. The accused, however, got bail as the GRP had presented the challan before making their arrests.
Mithu claimed that the commissioner was the chief guest in Saturday’s function, where 250 blankets were distributed and he spent his pocket money on it. A close aide of Navjot Singh Sidhu, Mithu said, “Our campaign is to distribute 2,000 blankets. I invited the commissioner and will call him again.”
Deepak Kumar, who lost his father Gurinder Kumar in the tragedy, said: “It is shameful that the top cop of the city participated as a chief guest in a function that an accused organised. What justice can we expect? The accused is out on bail and police officials are accompanying them. On the other hand, district administration officers are not even giving us appointment to meet them for jobs they promised. This function was meant for his (Mithu’s) promotion.”
The commissioner told HT, “This was a function meant for people and not any individual. I was there for the cause of the poor and needy. This doesn’t give clean chit to any accused.”
Punjab Human Rights Organisation (PHRO) representative advocate Sarabjit Singh Verka said, “The criminal case against Mithu is in court. The police commissioner’s participation at such an event will directly impact witnesses.”