Amritsar Accident: Organiser Says Permissions Were Taken for Event

The Dussehra event organiser said that five-six announcements were made to warn people to get away from the lines.

Organiser of the Dussehra event Saurabh Madan Mithoo.

(Photo: ANI)

As the death toll of the tragic Amritsar train accident rose to 62, the organiser of the Dussehra event Saurabh Madan Mithoo said on Monday, 22 October, that they had made five-six announcements asking people not to stand on the railway lines and go inside the boundaries.

“We had taken all the permissions. The fire brigade and the water tanker were also sent from the Corporation.”

Saurabh Madan Mithoo

A nervous Mithoo told ANI that they (the organisers) had left no stones unturned to make sure the event went smoothly. He said that they had burnt the effigy within the boundary wall of the field, not on the railway line.

“If we would have held the programme there, there would have been chairs there. We organised it within the boundary wall, which was 10 feet tall.”

Saurabh Madan Mithoo

He said the train came so suddenly that nobody knew what had happened. "What is our fault?" he asked.

Mithoo claimed that there were a few notorious people who harboured a personal vendetta against him. Insisting that the organisers had warned people, Mithoo said they had made an announcement, saying – “don't stand on the lines.”

On Saturday, 20 October, videos of the event were accessed by The Quint, where the organiser could be seen saying, "People who are standing on the railway tracks are aware of the schedule of the trains. They know which train will arrive at what time. Still, trains will not ask you before arriving. So, we have to be careful."