CCTV Footage Shows Amritsar Event Organiser Fleeing Home After Tragedy

The police have acquired CCTV footage of Sourabh Madan Mithu - a local councillor's son who organised the Dussehra event that ended with the death of 61 spectators on a railway track in Amritsar - escaping soon after the tragedy occurred on Friday night.

The clip, a copy of which is in NDTV's possession, shows Mr Mithu leaving his home in an SUV. "His Dussehra committee had asked for permission to hold the event, for which we gave a conditional no-objection certificate that becomes applicable only after you get the corporation's nod," said Deputy Commissioner of Police AS Powar.

Mr Mithu and his mother, a Congress Councillor, remain missing over 48 hours after the incident occurred, and protesters have hit the warpath with their demands for the arrest of those responsible. Irked by their absence, a group of people threw stones at the organisers' residence on Saturday afternoon -- breaking several windows. Police brought them under control and placed the neighbourhood under guard.

Although the Punjab police have registered a first information report in connection with the tragedy, they did not name anybody in the document on the grounds that the accused were yet to be identified. 

"It is too early to say anything about the accused, or who was responsible for the deaths on the railway track," said Amritsar station house officer Balvir Singh, adding that names will be added to the document on the basis of the ongoing investigation.

It has also come to light that the organisers of the Dussehra event in Amritsar had not bothered to approach municipal authorities for their consent. "Nobody sought permission from us," Amritsar Municipal Corporation Commissioner Sonali Giri told news agency PTI.

Amritsar Police Commissioner SS Srivastava on Sunday said his department had granted permission for the Ravana-burning ceremony on the basis of the event, not on requests from "VIPs". "Police gave 20 permissions for Dussehra. An FIR has already been filed in connection with the accident, and an investigation is on. We will take whatever legal action is required," he added.

An FIR has been filed in an instance of stone pelting where a policeman was injured, he added.

Earlier on Sunday morning, protesters clashed with the police at Jodha Fatak -- the scene of the tragedy -- after the latter came down to remove a blockade that had halted train services. No case has been filed against the driver yet, and the Railways continues to maintain that the spectators were trespassing onto the tracks.