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Andhra govt orders judicial probe into stampede deaths at Naidu rallies
The retired judge would probe the circumstances that led to the stampedes during Naidu’s rallies, leading to the death of 11 persons – eight at Kandukuru on December 28 and three at Guntur on January 1
Hyderabad
The Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy government in Andhra Pradesh on Saturday ordered a judicial inquiry into the death of 11 persons in a stampede-like situations during a public rallies conducted by Telugu Desam Party president and former chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu at Kandukuru town in Nellore district on December 28 and at Guntur town on January 1.
In a late-night gazette notification, the state government said the judicial commission of inquiry would be headed by retired state high court judge Justice B Seshasayana Reddy.
“The government is of the opinion that it is necessary to appoint a commission of inquiry under Section 3 of the Commission of Inquiry Act, 1952, to inquire into the incidents, which are of public importance,” chief secretary K S Jawahar Reddy said in the notification.
The retired judge would probe the circumstances that led to the stampedes during Naidu’s rallies, leading to the death of 11 persons – eight at Kandukuru on December 28 and three at Guntur on January 1.
According to the gazette notification, the terms of reference given to the commission of inquiry were: circumstances leading to the stampedes and the persons responsible there for and whether there were any shortcomings in the arrangements made and any violations in the permissions granted and if so persons responsible there for.
The commission has also been asked to make recommendations with regard to institutional mechanisms and safeguards to be in place in addition to the existing institutional mechanisms and safeguards so as to prevent occurrence of such grave incidents in future.
The judicial commission will complete its inquiry and submit its report to the state government within a period of one month from the date of assumption of charge.
It may be mentioned that eight TDP workers and sympathisers were killed and five others were injured when they fell into an open drain at Kandukuru town following a stampede at the public rally of Naidu. The deaths occurred due to suffocation, as the people fell one over the other in the Gundamkatta drain outlet, the police said.
Naidu immediately stopped his speech and rushed to the hospital to call on the victims. While he announced ex gratia of ₹10 lakh to each of the families of the deceased, his party leaders and supporters extended another ₹14 lakh to each of the victims. The TDP chief also announced that the party would provide free education to the children of the deceased.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy also announced an ex gratia of ₹2 lakh to each of the victims, while expressing their condolences.
On January 1, a similar stampede-like situation took place again at Naidu’s rally at Vikas Nagar in Guntur town, where three persons were killed. The incident happened during the distribution of clothes and gifts to the poor people under the auspices of Vuyyuru Charitable Trust, minutes after the TDP chief left the place. Naidu addressed the gathering and distributed the gifts to a few people as part of the trust activity.
The crowds surged forward for the gifts and the organisers could not control the crowds, leading to a stampede like situation. The police arrested Vuyyuru Charitable Trust organiser V Srinivas Rao but he was released on bail following the court order the following day.
The TDP announced ex gratia of ₹10 lakh to each of the families of the three victims, while the trust also announced another ₹10 lakh each. The state government, too, announced ₹2 lakh to each of them.
Following these stampedes, the Jagan government issued an order on January 3, prohibiting public rallies, roadshows and gatherings in narrow roads, public places, state and national highways.
