Months After Amritsar Train Tragedy, SIT Yet to Fix Responsibility

The SIT’s head said that they are waiting for forensic reports that were sent to a lab in Chandigarh.

A crowd at the site of the train accident in Amritsar.

(Photo: AP/Prabhjot Gill)

The Special Investigating team (SIT) that was formed to ‘fix criminal responsibility’ for the Amritsar train tragedy, which had claimed the lives of at least 60 people on 19 October, is yet to complete the probe, reported Hindustan Times.

The SIT, headed by Additional Inspector General (ADG) Daljit Singh Rana, comprises DSP Surinder Kumar, inspectors Narinder Kumar and Nirmal Singh, and Government Railway Police's Amritsar SHO Balbir Singh. It was tasked with finishing the probe in three months.

Speaking to HT, Rana said that the SIT was waiting for forensic reports of samples sent to the Central Forensic Science Laboratory in Chandigarh. He added that the probe will be completed in the next 20 days.

“We have finished questioning the railway staff, organisers of the Dussehra event, the police and civil administration employees.”

Daljit Singh Rana, ADG, as told to HT

Navjot Kaur Not Summoned By SIT

Navjot Kaur, the wife of Punjab Local Bodies Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu, was not summoned by the SIT. She was the chief guest at the Dusshera event, which was organised by Congress councillor Vijay Madan’s son Saurabh Madan.

The Punjab government-appointed magisterial probe had given a clean chit to Navjot Kaur Sidhu. The probe, conducted by Jalandhar Divisional Commissioner B Purushartha, had indicted Saurabh Madan and officials of the Amritsar Municipal Corporation, local administration, police and railway authorities for lapses that led to the tragedy.

The officials were blamed for giving permissions without ensuring safety while railway officials were blamed for allowing the speeding train to run without ensuring people’s safety, according to the HT report.

About 60 people were mowed down by a train that hurtled through a crowd that had spilled onto the railways tracks while watching the burning of a Ravana effigy on Dussehra last year.