BHOPAL: Men and women from Batham community staged a protest outside Collector's office on Friday demanding the release of two boatmen arrested after Bhopal's Ganesh immersion tragedy.
"They have arrested my boys saying that they are responsible for the incident in the lake. We saved the people. We don't have any other work. We demand that they should be released," Rekha, a protester told ANI.
The incident happened after a boat capsized during Ganpati idol immersion at the city's Khatlapura Ghat on Friday morning, claiming 11 lives with several others missing.
Another protester said that boys from their community saved six lives and strict action should be taken against erring officials.
Two boatmen were arrested after the Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath promised stern action.
"The two boat drivers have been arrested and an FIR has been registered against them. We have also put a ban on using boats for idol immersions," said Tarun Pithore, Collector, Bhopal.
The Chief Minister has also announced the ex-gratia of Rs 11 lakh which was announced earlier for the kin of the deceased.
Meanwhile, on Friday the district administration deployed cranes at the lake for idol immersion to ensure that similar incident is not repeated.