The organizer of the Dusshera programme in Amritsar, Saurabh Madan Mithu, releases a video saying he had taken all permissions and also warns the spectators to not stand near the railway tracks.
Almost 60 people were killed and injured by a passing train during the Dussehra celebration is Amritsar on October 19. Mithu claims that he warned people almost 10 times to stay away from the tracks.
“I had organised the function to get everyone together. We took all permissions… we had 20 feet space around the Ravan effigy. There was no lapse from my side, we had 100 policemen at the site, a fire brigade vehicle and water tankers were there at the spot,” he said in Punjabi.
Organizer of Dusshera event Saurabh Madan Mithoo releases video message,says ‘ Had taken all permissions,had alerted crowd atleast 10 times to not stand on tracks. I am extremely pained by the incident. Some ppl are trying to defame me’ #Amritsartrainaccident (location: unknown) pic.twitter.com/viPXBws3P8
— ANI (@ANI) October 22, 2018
“We organised it on the Ghat and not on the tracks. But some people were standing there and the train came out of nowhere. It was fate. What is my fault in this? Some officers and people have a personal vendetta against me… we made 7 to 10 announcements saying ‘please don’t stand on the tracks’. With folded hands, I request you not to do this,” he added.
Madan, the son of local Congress Councillor Vijay Madan, is currently in hiding since the accident took place. Though, the Punjab police and the Government Railway Police (GRP) have not initiated any action against him yet.