New Delhi/Amritsar: The organisers of the Dussehra event in Amritsar during which 61 people were killed under a speeding train on Friday faced public anger as protesters threw stones at their home this morning. The organisers, local councillor Vijay Madan and her son, Sourabh Madan Mithu, are missing. The first information report filed by the Government Railway Police (GRP) names no one and is against unidentified people on the grounds that the accused in the case were yet to be identified.
Angry locals who have been on a sit-in since yesterday near the rail tracks where the accident took place were cleared by the police today. But minutes later, the protesters clashed with the police and threw stones. The residents had blocked the traffic around the Joda Pathak area and raised slogans against the district administration, claiming that some people were still missing. The protesters demanded that the missing people be traced and also adequate compensation be given to the families of the victims.
Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, who visited the accident site yesterday, has ordered a magisterial inquiry into the incident.
Here are the LIVE updates on the situation in Amritsar:
Oct 21, 2018 19:50 (IST)
After having cancelled his visit to Israel in the wake of the Amritsar train tragedy, Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh has decided to visit the country and hold scheduled meetings there tomorrow. CM Singh is supposed to sign three Memoranda of Understanding in Israel, news agency ANI has reported.
Oct 21, 2018 19:21 (IST)
Station Director of Amritsar Amrit Singh reiterated that from the perspective of the railways, no rules were broken. Calling the Amritsar train tragedy an "unfortunate" incident, Mr Singh said, "There was no enquiry instituted at the high level because railway prima-facie does not see the locus of the cause inside the organisation. There was no rule or procedure broken from within the railways."
Oct 21, 2018 19:03 (IST)
Punjab Health Minister Brahm Mohindra said that the government is providing free treatment to those injured in the Amritsar train tragedy. He added that Rs 50,000 compensation has been announced for the treatment of the injured people, news agency ANI has reported.
Oct 21, 2018 16:26 (IST)
"I saw a crowd of people around the track and I immediately applied emergency brakes while continuously blowing the horn. Still some people came under it. The train was about to stop when people started pelting stones and so I started the train (again) for passengers' safety," driver of the Diesel Multiple Unit (DMU) train says in his written statement to the Railways administration, according to ANI.
Oct 21, 2018 13:26 (IST)
Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh has directed Amritsar District Commissioner and Commissioner of Police to make a detailed socio-economic profile of each victim of Amritsar train accident, report news agency ANI.
Oct 21, 2018 13:04 (IST)
The organisers, local councillor Vijay Madan and her son, Sourabh Madan Mithu, are missing. The first information report filed by the Government Railway Police (GRP) names no one and is against unidentified people on the grounds that the accused in the case were yet to be identified.
Oct 21, 2018 13:04 (IST)
The railways maintained that it was not responsible for the tragedy, saying people were "trespassing" on the tracks and refused to call it an "accident".
Oct 21, 2018 13:04 (IST)
Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, who visited the accident site yesterday, has ordered a magisterial inquiry into the incident.