BHUBANESWAR: The probe panel headed by development commissioner Anu Garg has recommended disciplinary action against the additional district magistrate (ADM) (revenue) and district social security officer (DSSO) of Puri, two additional tehsildars and one assistant collector for their alleged lapses in connection with the Rath Yatra stampede.
Three devotees were killed and several others injured in the stampede near Gundicha temple on June 29 prompting Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi to order the administrative probe. The panel has already made similar recommendations against seven police officers and one forest official.
The inquiry revealed that executive magistrates, who were in the control room, were not even aware that such an incident had happened and heard about it after they reached home on completion of their duty at 6 am. Most of them were new to the area or to such an event and were not aware of the nitis going on, the implications of delay of nitis on crowds and the aftereffects.
“From the report of ex-collector Sidhartha Sankar Swain and submissions of statements given by ADM (revenue), ADM (protocol), sub-collector, Puri and executive magistrates on duty, it was observed that the executive magistrates detailed for duty and the ADM (revenue) from 10 pm of June 28 to 6 am of June 29 near the chariots and control room respectively, failed to discharge their duties both in coordinating with police and SJTA and escalating the alarming situation of surge of crowd to the collector and SP. As a result, three persons succumbed to their injuries and 12 people sustained injuries due to the stampede,” the report read.
As the seniormost officer present in the control room, the report indicated that ADM (revenue) Sarat Chandra Mohapatra had a major role to play. “He said he got to know of the incident only at 5 am when he heard the sirens of the ambulance. He also mentioned he went near the chariots at around 3 am and came back to the control room. This was the peak period of the crowd and his presence on ground could have made a difference,” the probe panel said, recommending disciplinary action against him.
Apart from Mohapatra, immediate disciplinary action has been advised against Puri DSSO Bibhuti Bhusan Nayak, Sukruli additional tehsildar Raj Kishore Jena, Gondia additional tehsildar Soubhagya Kumar Mohanty and Dhenkanal assistant collector Dayanidhi Patra.
The panel also expressed concern over the selection of executive magistrates, who were either from outside the district (from Mayurbhanj and Dhenkanal) or from establishments like small savings or forest, and deployed for Rath Yatra duties.