Chauhan seeks explanation from Arjun

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said he has written a letter to veteran Congress leader and former state CM Arjun Singh seeking an explanation on the escape of Union Carbide Chairman Warren Anderson in connection with the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy.

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said he has written a letter to veteran Congress leader and former state CM Arjun Singh seeking an explanation on the escape of Union Carbide Chairman Warren Anderson in connection with the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy.

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Chouhan also said a five-member team of legal experts set up by the state government to look into the issue would examine what could be done legally to get the victims justice. “The interim report of the team would be out in the next 10 days,” he said.

Chouhan added that the court verdict on the case, which awarded two-year jail term for seven persons for the disaster, was unacceptable.

“We will go to any extent to get justice...This is not an issue of Bhopal or the state. It should act as an example of how to give punishment in such cases,” he said.

In the letter, Chouhan asked Arjun Singh to reveal the person responsible for the safe passage for Anderson days after the Bhopal gas leak.

“I have written a letter to Arjun Singh asking him to reveal under whose orders he took a decision to free Anderson soon after his arrest.

“Let Arjun Singh explain it. Whether he did it (gave permission for providing state aircraft) himself or anybody told him to do so. We want a reply from him if a wrong direction was given. And after all, why such a direction was given,” he said.