Responsibility will be fixed on guilty of stampede: minister

, Oct 3: With opposition BJP leaders flaying the state government on the stampede which left 32 dead and 26 injured, a senior minister said responsibility would be fixed on the guilty after a probe.

"Some are saying the incident took place after some people fell in a drain. Still others are talking about snapping of a live wire and rumour spread by a few in the crowd. The truth will come only after a thorough inquiry into the incident," Minister Vijay Chaudhary told reporters tonight. The state government has already ordered a high level probe by Principal Secretary Home Amir Subhani and Additional Director General of Police (Headquarters) Gupteshwar Pandey.

"The probe report will come soon," Chaudhary, who takes questions on Home department during Assembly session as minister in-charge of Home department, said. "Responsibility will be fixed on officials found guilty for the tragedy," he said.

The Minister said the Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi had left Gandhi Maidan around an hour before the tragedy which struck around 7 pm. He had reached his native village in Gaya district when he got the information about stampede after which he immediately rushed back to the state capital, Chaudhary said. Meanwhile, Manjhi who held a high level meeting with Chief Secretary Anjani Kumar Singh, state police chief P K Thakur and Principal Secretary, Home, Amir Subhani on the stampede went to PMCH late in the night. The CM moved interacted with the injured being treated in the emergency ward of PMCH and enquired about their condition. Some bodies after identification has been moved to mortuary of PMCH.

PTI