Punjab Police to probe Amritsar train tragedy separately

Chandigarh: The Punjab Police will conduct a separate probe into the train tragedy in Amritsar on Friday in which 59 people lost their lives and nearly 60 others were injured.

Punjab Director General of Police (DGP) Suresh Arora said on Sunday that "for fixing the criminal responsibility for the Amritsar railway mishap", Additional Director General of Police (Railways) Iqbal Preet Singh Sahota would conduct the enquiry.

The DGP said: "There has been negligence on part of someone and that liability has to be fixed for which this probe has been ordered."

The police probe into the incident will be separate from the magisterial inquiry ordered in this connection by Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Saturday.

People watching the Dusshera proceedings from the railway tracks near Joda Phatak in Amritsar on Friday were crushed by the speeding Jalandhar-Amritsar DMU (diesel multiple unit) train.

The Indian Railways has given a clean chit to the train driver and other officials saying that they (railways) were not informed about the Ravan effigy burning event so close to the railway tracks and the presence of hundreds of people on the tracks.