ADGP SAHOTA TO PROBE AMRITSAR RAIL TRAGEDY: DGP ARORA

Chandigarh/Jalandhar, October 21, 2018: Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab Mr.Suresh Arora today said for fixing the criminal responsibility behind the Amritsar Railway Mishap, the Additional Director General of Police Railways Mr.Iqbal Preet Singh Sahota would conduct the enquiry. Interacting with media persons here today on the sidelines of 59th Police Commemoration Day parade, the Director General of Police said there had been negligence on part of someone and that liability has to be fixed for which this probe has been ordered. Mr.Arora said that this was a very tragic and unfortunate incident for which the Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh has already ordered a Magisterial probe by the Divisional Commissioner Jalandhar Mr. B Purusartha, who would submit report within four weeks. He said that Mr. Sahota would also personally conduct the enquiry to ensure that the persons responsible for this mishap could be nailed. Replying to another query, the Director General of Police said there was no point of questioning the national integrity of any student, especially from Kashmir, by the Punjab Police. He said it was our moral duty to ensure access to quality education to every student from any part of the country. However, Mr. Arora said that if any sort of violation of law was done by any citizen of the country then law would take its own course. The Director General of Police said he has already passed on directions to district police chiefs to have detailed interactions with the students studying in educational institutes and assure them that Police was there to assist them in case of any difficulty. Mr. Arora said that there was no question of alienating students from any part of the country. He said that Additional Director General of Police (Community Policing) Mr. Ishwar Singh and Inspector General of Police Ms. V. Neerja have been appointed as Nodal officers redress the grievances, if any, of the students. ‘The students can contact both these officers in case of any problem’ added the DGP. On another query, the Director General of Police said that the nefarious attempts being made on social media to misguide the youth would be dealt with sternly. He said the same attempt was made during the dark days of years 1984-1994 but the youth should not prey to such tactics. Mr. Arora said that rather then it the youth must contribute generously in social and economic development of the country in general and state in particular. Earlier, addressing the gathering, the Director General of Police recalled that stellar role of the Punjab police in preserving the hard earned peace of the state besides safeguarding the unity and integrity of the country. He said that it was a matter of great pride for the Punjab Police that from 1981 to 2017, 2719 Police officers/ officials of the state Police have sacrificed their lives for maintaining peace and integrity of country. Mr. Arora said that the supreme sacrifice of these martyrs would ever inspire the younger generation of Police officers/ officials to sacrifice their lives at the altar of the motherland. The Director General of Police also hailed the decision of the Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh to restore the special family pension of the officers martyred during operations against the terrorism. He said that the families would get the full pension, instead of that cut in year 2014, along with the facility of Red Card. Mr. Arora said that the Punjab Police would ever remain indebted to its illustrious heroes, who brought laurels for the Police force through their gallantry deeds. On the occasion the Director General of Police also paid floral tributes to the martyrs. Prominent amongst others present on the occasion included DGP Mr. MK Tiwari, DGP (Retd.) Mr. MS Bhullar, ADGPs Mr. Gaurav Yadav, Mr. Kuldeep Singh, Mrs. Shashi Prabha Diwedi, Mr. Sanjeev Kalra, Inspector General of Police Mr. Jaskaran Singh, Mr. RPS Brar, Mr. Amar Singh Chahal, Mr. Naunihal Singh and Mr. Pramod Ban, Commissioner of Police Mr. Gurpreet Singh Bhullar, Deputy Inspector Generals of Police Mr. SK Kalia and Mr. Pawan Uppal, Deputy Commissioner Jalandhar Mr. Varinder Kumar Sharma, Commandants Mr. Rajinder Singh and Mr. Raj Pal Sandhu, Senior Superintendent of Police Mr. Navjot Singh Mahal and others. CAPT AMARINDER DIRECTS AMRITSAR DC, CP TO PREPARE DETAILED SOCIO-ECONOMIC PROFILES OF TRAIN TRAGEDY VICTIMS Chandigarh: To ensure speedy, need-based solution for the rehabilitation of the victims of the train tragedy, Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Sunday directed Amritsar DC and Commissioner Police to make a detailed socio-economic profile of each of them. The Chief Minister, who had met some of the survivors of the accident in the hospitals yesterday, was moved by tales of two young women, who had lost their entire families, including children and husbands, and in one case even her in-laws. Anguished at the plight of such survivors, the Chief Minister had then told his Chief Principal Secretary Suresh Kumar that the government will have to do more than just give Rs five lakhs as compensation to the kin of the dead, especially in cases where the victims are poor. The Chief Minister had made it clear to his CPS that a proper system would need to be worked out to ensure that such survivors are rehabilitated by the state government at the earliest, and are not left to fend for themselves. On Sunday, while reviewing the situation in the aftermath of the train tragedy, the Chief Minister directed the district officials to prepare detailed socio-economic profiles of the victims. He also directed that ration, clothing, medicines etc be provided to the families of the victims, as most were from the economically weaker sections of the society. The Chief Minister also reviewed the relief and rehabilitation work with the Crisis Management Group of ministers, headed by Health Minister, Brahm Mohindra, and directed them to take immediate steps for early disbursement of the compensation. All steps should be taken for the effective rehabilitation of the survivors and the families of the victims, Captain Amarinder Singh told the Crisis Management Group, which he had set up on Friday night, immediately after receiving the news of the tragic disaster.